I 


EDUCATION 


W  • 


,  •'" 
'•:   I':! 


ICHARD 
AUSE 

•  NE 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


ped  below 


SiAIENORMAL  SCHOOL, 


-  ^   ^— *  « 
.^^-p  o-««. 


SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION 


SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION 


BY 

RICHARD  CAUSE  BOONE,  A.M.,  Pn.D, 

AUTHOR  OT 
"EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES"  AND  "EDUCATION  IN  INDIANA" 


NEW  YORK 

CHAELES  SCKIBNER'S  SONS 
1904 


COFYRIGIIT,  1904,  BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'8  SONS 


Education 
Library 


Co 

THE  STUDENTS  AND  TEACHERS  WHO  HAVE 
FOLLOWED  THESE  DISCUSSIONS  IN  THE  PAST 
IN  COLLEGE  AND  UNIVERSITY  CLASS-ROOMS, 
AND  TO  THE  LARGER  PUBLIC  WHOSE  ENCOUR- 
AGEMENT HAS  HELPED  THE  AUTHOR  TO  CONFI- 
DENCE IN  THEM,  THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume,  both  in  matter  and  method,  has  grown 
out  of  many  years'  use  of  the  discussions  of  these  and 
similar  topics  in  the  Pedagogical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Indiana,  in  the  Michigan  Normal  College, 
before  bodies  of  city  teachers,  and  in  Institutes  gener- 
ally. It  will  be  obvious  to  the  reader  that  it  is  not  a 
treatise  upon  methods  of  teaching.  It  concerns  itself 
chiefly  with  the  educational  process,  and  the  materials 
for  the  derived  science.  The  point  of  view  is  historical, 
and  the  purpose  has  been  consistently  maintained  to 
find  in  the  general  evolution  of  function  and  faculty 
a  consistent  background  for  the  current  conditions  and 
the  presuppositions  of  the  science.  A  brief  but  some- 
what comprehensive  bibliography  of  modern  works  is 
appended  for  the  guidance  of  teachers  in  further  read- 
ing. It  would  be  impossible  to  give  credit  to  all  authors 
quoted,  though  the  foot-notes  or  the  text  will  gener- 
ally indicate  the  source  of  most  materials  borrowed. 
And  recent  literature  is  rich  in  suggestion  bearing  upon 
the  Science  of  Education.  To  all  such  I  freely  acknowl- 
edge my  obligations,  and  here  express  my  appreciation. 


CONTENTS 

PAGX 

INTRODUCTION  xi 


PART  I 

THE  NATURE  OF   EDUCATION 

CHAPTER 

I.    Arts  and  Their  Sciences 3 

II.    Professions  and  Trades 12 

III.  Education  and  the  Allied  Arts 25 

IV.  Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education  ...  44 
V.    Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education — Con- 
tinued               GO 

VI.    The  Subject  of  Education 74 

VII.    The  Instrument  of  Education 94 

VIII.  The  Instrument  of  Education — Continued      .  108 

IX.    The  Motive  in  Education 124 

X.  The  Motive  in  Education — Continued  .     .     .  137 

XI.  The  Motive  in  Education — Concluded  .     .     .  150 

XII.  The  Condition  in  Education  .                         .  1G4 


PART  II 
EDUCATION  AS   A   SCIENCE 

XIII.  The  Nature  of  Science 173 

XIV.  The  Scientific  Method  .  186 


PART  III 
THE  DATA  OF  EDUCATIONAL   SCIENCE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV.    Their  General  Character 207 

XVI.    General  Character  of  Data— Concluded  .     .  218 


PART  IV 
CONTRIBUTING  SCIENCES 

XVII.  The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     .     .  239 

XVIII.    The  Special  Senses 254 

XIX.    Psychology 266 

XX.    Mental  Processes 283 

XXI.    Mental  Processes — Concluded 295 

XXII.    The  Growth  of  Emotions 307 

XXIII.  The  Growth  of  Intelligence 317 

XXIV.  Ethical  Relations 329 

XXV.    Ethical  Relations— Continued 341 

XXVI.    Industrial  Relations 357 

XXVII.    Anthropology 371 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  .  .         ....  397 


INTRODUCTION 

HISTORICAL  record  furnishes  material  for  a  most  in- 
teresting study,  and  one  particularly  attractive  and 
profitable  to  growing  teachers.  Every  nation  having 
emerged  into  a  state  of  civilization,  and  undertaken  the 
promotion  of  national  growth  in  civic  graces  and  effi- 
ciency, has  made  its  contribution  to  a  store  of  educa- 
tional doctrine.  In  each  case  the  national  type,  though 
often  held  unconsciously,  yet  operated  to  fix  the  char- 
acter of  the  formal  training.  Speaking  generally, 
whatever  has  been  accomplished  among  any  people  of 
any  age  in  education  and  the  formal  culture — as  in  art, 
religion,  invention,  and  the  social  order — has  been 
colored  and  shaped  in  terms  of  this  national  spirit. 
Educational  theory  and  practice  furnish  no  exception. 
For  no  people  can  these  get  far  away  from  the  national 
traditions  that  hold  ascendency.  "  A  nation,  like  an 
individual,  has  its  own  instinct  and  genius."  As  in 
the  individual,  so  in  the  nation,  this  is  the  determining 
factor  in  fixing  both  the  quality  of  its  culture  and  the 
direction  which  its  forces  may  take.  It  is  one  function 
of  any  people's  systematic  education  to  utilize,  not 
necessarily  to  conform  to,  this  particular  bias;  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  vantage  ground  from  which  to  work  in  the 


xii  Introduction 

effort  to  place  the  particular  nation  or  individual  in 
possession  of  the  net  results  of  other  nations'  and  other 
individuals'  culture,  to  the  end  that  each  may  be  lifted 
from  an  exclusive  or  particular  plane  to  a  participation 
in  the  true  world  culture — made  to  partake  of  the  great, 
the  universal  spirit.  This  is  humanism  as  set  over 
against  a  narrow  specialism. 

Briefly,  then,  education  should  reveal  these  three 
phases:  (1)  individual,  and  diverse  in  its  means  and 
conditions  as  are  individuals;  (2)  national,  recog- 
nizing and  measurably  conserving,  adapting  itself  to 
the  national  spirit;  and  (3)  humane  or  racial,  taking 
up  into  the  individual  and  the  nation  such  of  the 
cultures  as  the  antecedents  or  contemporaries  of  either 
have  worked  out.  "  If,"  says  M.  Fouillee,*  blind  at- 
tachment to  tradition  involves  immobility,  the  no  less 
blind  contempt  for  national  tradition  no  less  involves 
it:  for  each  suppresses  living  forces  from  which  move- 
ment may  be  derived."  Each  nation  may  well  set  it- 
self to  learn  from  every  other,  but  it  must  not  forget 
that  the  primary  inspiration  is  to  be  found  in  its  own 
life,  its  conditions  and  standards  and  ideals.  Each  has 
its  own  inheritances  in  the  race's  achievements;  is 
charged  with  its  share  in  the  world's  stream  of  culture 
and  attainment,  and  must,  therefore,  find  in  these  its 
chief  ground  of  progress.  This  is  the  fulcrum  on 
which  the  lever  of  its  elevation  is  to  work.  All  edu- 
cation partakes  of  the  general  character  of  the  evolu- 
tionary process.  In  both  its  method  and  material  it 
*  M.  Fouillee.  "Education  from  a  National  Standpoint,"  p.  110. 


Introduction  xiii 

finds  important  meanings  in  the  race's  development. 
This  race  inheritance  is  one  factor  in  fixing  the  char- 
acter of  the  educational  doctrine  herein  set  forth.  It 
has  bearings  on  the  method  of  procedure;  influences  in 
a  minor  degree  only  the  subject-matter  of  the  school 
curriculum;  and,  in  a  large  way,  the  selection  of  ma- 
terial for  the  science  of  education  as  worked  out. 


THE  NATURE  OF  EDUCATION 


CHAPTER  I 

2  a/  03 

ARTS  AND  THEIR  SCIENCES 

THEEE  is,  presumptively,  a  Science  of  Education. 
Both  processes  and  guidance  in  education  have  been 
enriched  by  experience.  Knowledge  has  gradually 
taken  the  form  of  principles  or  rules,  and  the  art  of 
teaching  has  so  far  been  rational.  It  was  naturally 
reserved  to  recent  generations  to  give  these  pedagogi- 
cal materials  form  in  an  organized  system.  The  philo- 
sophical, art,  and  ethical  literatures  of  the  race,  from 
the  earliest  records,  make  reference  to  certain  funda- 
mentals. They  are  infrequent,  however,  and  often 
incidental.  Of  all  the  ancients  perhaps,  Plato  has 
left  us  both  the  clearest  and  fullest  statement.  For 
a  thousand  years  thereafter  not  much  was  attempted 
in  educational  theory,  and  less  accomplished.  The 
great  Keformation,  in  finding  a  place  for  individ- 
ual protest  and  privilege,  opened  the  way  for  an  empha- 
sis of  growth  and  maturing  in  his  manifold  relations,  as 
one  of  man's  native  characteristics.  Luther  and  Mil- 
ton and  their  contemporaries  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  later  systematic  ordering  of  reflective  thought 
on  directed  education.  Rousseau  and  Pestalozzi  and 
Froebel,  often  in  partial  and  broken  ways,  re-enforced 
the  current  philosophies.  The  German  philosophers, 

8 


4  Science  of  Education 

headed  by  Kant,  gave  logical  form  to  certain  under- 
lying truths.  Spencer  modernized  and  vitalized  the 
race's  human  interest  in  its  environment.  The  growth 
and  service  of  the  Church  have  dignified  schools  and 
all  the  means  of  education,  in  the  bestowal  of  concep- 
tions of  the  far-reaching  and  abiding  cravings  of  the 
soul.  The  secularizing  of  education  has  followed  a 
recognition  of  the  possibility  of  an  essentially  divine 
life  here  and  now.  And,  conceding  the  equal  rights 
of  all  to  a  share  in  the  privileges  of  education,  the 
extension  of  schools  to  reach  all  gives  an  added  impor- 
tance to  the  movement,  and  to  all  reflective  interests  in 
it.  Community  regard  for  education  and  the  public 
support  of  it  make  all  the  more  necessary  the  right 
ordering  of  its  methods  upon  sound  conceptions  of  its 
nature. 

There  is  presumptively,  if  not  constructively,  a  Sci- 
ence of  Education.  We  may  dispute  about  particular 
terms,  and  about  a  body  of  consistent  nomenclature 
and  even  about  the  contributing  materials;  but  there 
is  abundant  evidence  that,  even  in  the  lay  mind,  there  is 
knowledge  of  a  kind  that  implies  more  general  notions 
that  give  this  knowledge  validity.  Attention  is  called 
to  the  following  observations: 

(1)  An  admitted  art  of  teaching  implies  some  stand- 
ard by  which  to  measure  the  efficiency  of  the  art. 
Successful  farming  observes  certain  principles,  such 
as,  e.g.,  involve  the  right  rotation  of  crops ;  selected 
fertilizers  suited  to  the  grains  sown;  fitting  the  crops 
to  the  particular  soil;  times  and  seasons  in  planting; 


'Arts  and  Their  Sciences  5 

Careful  subsoiling;  the  times  and  conditions  of  harvest- 
ing ;  the  self -seeding  of  meadows,  etc. — conditions  from 
whose  operation  are  in  time  derived  well-established 
laws  concerning  seeding,  cultivating,  and  harvesting. 
Carpentry  becomes  skilful  through  intelligently  regard- 
ing the  nature  and  fibres  of  woods,  the  strength  of 
materials,  the  relations  of  joints  and  braces,  cleavage, 
grains,  splicing,  cuts,  glues,  tools,  and  such  like  con- 
ditions and  handling;  out  of  a  knowledge  of  which 
grows  a  body  of  accepted  directions  for  making  the 
working  with  wood,  in  manufacture,  effective.  The 
art  of  healing  implies  a  body  of  knowledge  about  health 
and  disease,  curative  drugs  and  their  physiological  re- 
actions, diet  and  exercise;  in  the  light  of  whose  con- 
clusions the  art  is  practised.  The  art  of  music  rests 
upon  a  knowledge  of  musical  sounds,  the  voice,  the 
scale,  melody  and  harmony  of  musical  tones,  movement 
and  grouping  of  tones,  chorus  and  accompaniments, 
typical  musical  instruments,  etc.,  which,  organized, 
becomes  the  science  of  music. 

So  out  of  the  experience  of  thoughtful  teachers  in 
the  past  have  been  derived  certain  guiding  principles, 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  educational  process,  the  act  of 
learning,  the  steps  and  conditions  in  maturing,  the  life 
functions  of  knowledge,  the  instruments  of  education. 
The  principles  are  sometimes  unrelated,  or  again  fairly 
organized  into  a  system:  but  in  either  case,  forming  a 
standard  by  which  to  measure  the  practice.  The  teach- 
ing is  thought  to  be  good  or  bad  as  it  conforms  to  or 
opposes  these  guiding  principles.  The  fact  that  it  may 


6  Science  of  Education 

be  thought  good  or  poor  presupposes  some  standard  of 
efficiency  for  determining  its  quality.  The  standard 
may  be  a  very  simple  one,  or  more  elaborate;  but  if 
the  teaching  act  be  purposeful  and  orderly,  the  rules 
of  procedure  constitute  a  potential  science  having  the 
school  practice  as  its  art. 

(2)  So  also,  a  growing  body  of  pedagogical  writings 
suggests  a  prevalent  recognition  of  the  trustworthiness 
of  directions  for  pursuing  or  improving  the  art.  From 
the  days  of  Christopher  Dock's  "  Schul  Ordnung " 
(1750),  down  through  the  years  to  the  present,  in  this 
country,  and  from  a  time  some  centuries  earlier,  among 
all  of  the  older  nations,  books  have  been  multiplied  on 
the  nature  of  education,  and  the  functions  and  condi- 
tions of  effective  teaching.  Ko  great  system  of  philos- 
ophy has  been  propounded  that  has  not  had  its  direct  or 
implied  dictum  on  education.  Socrates  was  primarily 
a  teacher  as  well  as  philosopher,  and  formulated  a 
method  of  induction  and  logical  definition;  Plato's 
memory  and  reputation  are  connected  with  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Academy,  and  with  the  two  works,  "  The 
Republic "  and  "  The  Laws,"  both  having  distinct 
pedagogical  meanings;  Aristotle,  the  teacher  of  Alex- 
ander, philosopher  and  scientist,  promoter  if  not  orig- 
inator of  the  inductive  method,  held  that  the  prime 
object  of  the  state  is  "  to  make  its  citizens  good  men  " ; 
among  the  schoolmen  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Duns  Scotus 
substituted  for  the  "  believe  that  you  may  know,"  the 
larger  freedom  of  "  know  that  you  may  believe " ; 
Bacon's  writings  are  an  unbroken  exposition  of  scien- 


Arts  and  Their  Sciences  7 

tific  empiricism,  and  include  an  admirable  essay  en- 
titled "  On  the  Advancement  of  Learning " ;  Locke's 
two  essays,  "On  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding," 
and  "  Thoughts  concerning  Education,"  accompany 
much  other  philosophical  writing;  Leibnitz,  who  has 
been  characterized  as,  next  to  Aristotle,  "  the  most  com- 
prehensive genius  that  ever  lived,"  foreshadowed,  if  he 
did  not  announce,  the  modern  notions  of  "  the  Conser- 
vation of  Energy,"  and  "  Heat  as  a  Mode  of  Motion," 
applied  his  philosophy  to  a  discussion  of  the  nature  of 
education,  and  through  his  reasonable  optimism,  doubt- 
less inspired  the  "  Essay  on  Man  " ;  Kant  included  his 
Pedagogics  as  a  part  of  the  treatment  of  "  The  Practical 
Reason  " ;  along  with  his  philosophy,  Fichte  is  remem- 
bered for  his  educational  "  Addresses  to  the  German 
Nation  " ;  Herbart,  successor  to  Kant  in  the  University 
of  Berlin,  founder  and  director  of  a  Pedagogical  Semi- 
nary, is  the  author  of  a  "  System  of  Ethics,"  and 
"  General  Principles  of  Education,"  that  have  had  a 
wide  influence  in  this  generation;  Schelling,  as  a 
teacher  of  Agassiz,  projected  his  philosophy  into  peda- 
gogical lines ;  and  Hegel,  schoolmaster  and  philosopher, 
inspirer  of  Rosenkranz  and  a  large  school  of  writers 
and  thinkers  in  not  only  philosophy,  but  in  pedagogy 
and  history,  is  the  author  of  the  "  Phenomenology  of 
Spirit,"  the  "  Philosophy  of  History,"  and  other  trea- 
tises that  have  had  a  direct  influence  on  educational 
thought  and  practice  in  a  number  of  ways.  Eminent 
commentators  and  philosophical  essayists  have  found 
education  a  fruitful  theme,  as  witness,  Luther  ("  Ad- 


8 

dress  to  German  Cities  "),  Milton  ("  Tractate  on  Edu- 
cation"), Goethe  ("  Wilhelm  Meister"),  Carlyle 
("Sartor  Kesartus"),  Emerson  ("Essays").  It  has 
been  a  recurring  and  cherished  thought  of  poets,  great 
and  small.  Of  the  more  distinctively  professional 
literature,  a  standard  catalogue  of  pedagogical  works 
enumerates  in  America  but  10  books  before  1800  and 
nearly  2,000  during  the  nineteenth  century.  During 
the  last  generation  such  books  have  multiplied  amaz- 
ingly. Their  writing  and  publication  show  the  con- 
fidence of  thoughtful  and  scholarly  people  in  the 
validity  of  certain  postulates  as  fundamental  in  the 
explanation  of  the  art.  That  many  of  these  utterances 
are  discredited  by  some,  and  that,  among  teachers, 
there  is  much  disagreement  as  to  the  statement  of  prin- 
ciples and  organization  of  materials,  does  not  impair 
the  argument.  Good  teaching  may  be  justified,  and 
poor  teaching  improved,  by  regarding  certain  dicta 
derived  from  reflective  experience.  It  is  confidently 
believed  that  thoughtful  members  of  the  profession  are 
already  in  accord  on  certain  principles  underlying  the 
processes  of  learning,  and  that  a  more  general  agree- 
ment prevails  than  formerly  with  reference  to  the  con- 
ditions of  effective  and  wholesome  teaching.  The  peda- 
gogical literature  of  the  day  is  not  only  an  index  of  a 
current  belief  in  the  movement  to  explain  and  improve 
teaching,  and  to  account  for  the  steps  and  conditions 
in  the  process  of  maturing,  but  this  body  of  literature 
is  itself  a  factor  in  furthering  the  reorganization  of 
thought  upon  educational  questions.  This  growing 


Arts  and  Their  Sciences  9 

body  of  pedagogical  writings  suggests  a  prevalent  recog- 
nition of  the  trustworthiness  of  directions  for  pursuing 
or  improving  the  art. 

(3)  To   these    more    formal    statements    should   be 
added,  as  illustrating  the  wide-spread  professional  inter- 
est in  education,  a  consideration  of  the  numerous,  more 
or  less  pretentious,  and  suggestive  lay  criticisms  and 
constructive  theories  upon  the  subject  to  be  found  in  the 
high-class  literary  and  scientific  periodicals  of  the  day. 
Common  intelligence  apprehends  the  problems  and  con- 
ditions involved  and  has  set  itself  to  assist  in  the  solu- 
tion.    These  discussions  also  represent  a  growing  con- 
fidence in  the  existence  of  more  or  less  helpful  guiding 
principles  and  in  their  trustworthiness  as  professional 
dicta.     They  represent  interest  and  inquiry,  some  of 
it  careful;  occasionally  a  real  testing  of  conclusions; 
and  the  bringing  to  bear  upon  them  of  a  wealth  of 
culture  and  critical  estimate,  tending  to  clarify  current 
conceptions  of  what  is  important  and  what  is  not,  and 
why.    That  men  are  disposed  to  think  there  is  a  "  why  " 
means  much  to  a  growing  science ;  to  be  able  to  answer 
the  why  in  a  rational  and  helpful  way  for  any  one  of  the 
serious  questions  is  a  step  forward.     That  questions 
continue  to  be  asked  and  serious  answers  attempted 
about  not  the  surface  conditions  only,  but  the  basic 
ones  as  well,  means  confidence,  not  only  that  there  are 
such  questions,  but  that  they  may  be  answered. 

(4)  Further,  the  existence  of  normal  schools,  train- 
ing classes,  and  pedagogical  departments  in  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning,  and  their  general  patronage, 


10  Science  of  'Education 

reveal  a  conviction  that  certain  conditioning  principles 
underlying  the  educative  process  may  be  conveyed  to 
others,  that  the  "  born  "  teacher  may  learn  the  grounds 
of  good  teaching,  and  that  there  are  such  grounds.  In 
the  establishment  of  normal  schools  or  other  institu- 
tions for  the  training  of  teachers,  from  the  beginning 
of  this  movement,  never  has  this  been  doubted.  In  the 
minds  of  school  people  this  has  been  argued  as  the  suf- 
ficient reason  for  their  establishment.  And  this  train- 
ing has  been  planned  to  include,  not  alone  practice  in 
the  art  of  teaching — lesson-giving,  school  management, 
discipline,  etc. — but  consideration  of  the  rationale  of 
lesson-giving,  school  management,  discipline,  etc.  In- 
deed, even  among  normal-school  men,  there  is  a  large 
minority  of  them  who  hold  that  intelligent  practice  can 
only  be  had  in  real  schools,  where  one  is  responsible  for 
the  instruction ;  but  that  the  theory  of  teaching,  and  the 
nature  of  the  educational  process,  and  the  implications 
of  the  race's  experience,  may  be  imparted  to  candidates 
otherwise  fitted  for  the  profession.  These  schools  are  a 
standing  evidence  of  faith  in  the  existence  and  validity 
and  usefulness  of  organizable  material,  out  of  which 
is  being  constructed  a  science  of  education.  Though 
many  government  weather  predictions  fail,  more  than 
eighty  per  cent,  of  them  are  confirmed ;  much  so-called 
scientific  farming  is  fruitless,  and  precedent  lawyers 
swarm,  and  medical  quacks  scourge  the  public,  and 
most  philanthropy  is  wasteful,  and  speech  and  writing 
are  both  often  creatures  of  whim;  but  no  one  doubts 
that  weather-forecasting,  and  farming,  and  law,  and 


Arts  and  Their  Sciences  11 

medicine,  and  philanthropy,  and  speech,  and  writing 
may  all  be  practised  upon  scientific  principles. 

Though  professional  schools  for  teachers  differ  in 
their  statements  and  organization  of  the  fundamental 
principles  underlying  the  art ;  and  though  the  product  of 
the  best  of  these  schools  is  sometimes  indifferent;  and 
though  trained  teachers  occasionally  fail  in  the  attempt 
to  teach — to  apply  this  theory,  it  may  not  reasonably 
be  doubted  that  the  purpose  of  these  schools  is,  in 
large  measure,  realized,  and  that  they  justify  the  faith 
of  their  founders  in  the  existence  and  practicability  of 
such  principles  and  their  ultimate  organization  into 
some  feasible  system.  The  establishment  of  profes- 
sional schools  to  train  teachers,  and  their  general  pat- 
ronage, reveal  a  conviction  that  certain  conditioning 
postulates  underlying  the  educational  process  may  be 
conveyed  to  others  and  made  effective  in  the  art.  An 
encouraging  sign  of  the  times,  in  this  particular,  is  that 
these  schools  and  pedagogical  departments  in  some  of 
the  colleges  and  universities,  and  various  voluntary 
organizations  under  the  guise  of  education  societies  and 
pedagogical  clubs,  have  set  themselves  seriously  and  sys- 
tematically to  study  the  problem,  and,  if  possible,  re- 
solve the  teaching  process  into  its  elements  and  find 
their  value  in  some  common  philosophic  or  scientific 
scheme.  All  of  which  again  gives  assurance  of  a  grow- 
ing and  intelligent  popular  and  technical  faith  in  the 
processes  of  maturing  and  nurture  as  explicable  in  terms 
that  shall  be  found  intelligible.  This  is  at  least  a 
science  of  education  in  the  making,  if  no  more. 


CHAPTER  H 
PROFESSIONS  AND  TRADES 

THE  conditioning  characteristics  of  a  "  profession  " 
distinguish  it  from  a  "  trade  "  or  mere  "  business." 

It  is  freely  conceded  that  these  characteristics  them- 
selves are  not  always  clearly  marked.  Generally  they 
are ;  in  details  they  are  often  obscure.  In  modern  life 
certain  trades  have  taken  on  qualities  that  were  once 
thought  to  belong  peculiarly  to  the  learned  professions. 
In  other  respects,  not  unimportant  either,  the  pro- 
fession seems  to  have  lost  something  of  its  original 
character.  Frankly  and  with  entire  accuracy  it  may 
be  said  that  the  difference  is  less  marked  to-day  between 
the  two  grades  of  occupation  than  formerly,  though 
there  still  exist  "  the  sorry  trade  "  and  "  the  learned 
profession." 

Primarily,  a  profession  implies  a  body  of  technical 
(applied)  knowledge  underlying  the  art,  whether  that 
art  be  preaching,  or  pleading,  or  therapeutics.  Support- 
ing the  trade,  as  such,  is  a  possession  of  skill.  Perhaps 
it  were  truer  to  fact  to  say  that  in  the  one  knowledge 
predominates,  in  the  other  efficiency.  The  former  is 
reflective,  the  latter  operative;  that  academic,  this  dex- 
terous; the  one  rests  upon  principles,  the  other  upon 
ingenuity.  The  distinction  is  not  inapt,  because  some 

12 


Professions  and  Trades  13 

of  the  highly  developed  trades  have  evolved  a  body  of 
technical  knowledge,  are  reflective,  and  rest  upon  well- 
established  principles ;  or  that,  in  the  pulpit,  there  may 
be  found  very  effective  preaching  accompanied  with 
a  meagre  theology ;  or  a  successful  practice  of  law  with 
little  acquaintance  in  equity.  It  only  means  that  in 
our  highly  industrial  age  the  occupations  of  man  are 
in  flux,  and,  with  increasing  knowledge  and  the  aggres- 
sions of  science,  there  goes  on,  on  the  one  hand,  a  pro- 
fessionalizing of  trades,  and  on  the  other,  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  profession  to  life.  Once  the  distinction 
would  have  held  with  little  exception;  it  is  still  ap- 
proximately true,  and  is  here  so  used. 

Further,  to  be  distinctly  professional,  this  knowledge 
must  have  been  logically  related  in  a  system.  Speaking 
narrowly,  the  past  has  given  us  systems  of  theology,  of 
medicine,  and  of  law,  with  their  respective  arts — 
preaching,  therapy,  and  pleading.  The  first  and  second 
have  developed  several  systems,  each  with  its  organized 
body  of  technical  knowledge,  its  adherents  forming  a 
school,  and  the  practice  conforming  to  its  accepted 
theory.  The  exclusiveness  of  its  art  was  proportioned 
to  its  special  and  peculiar  teachings.  Its  teachings 
were  organically  related,  and  were  prohibitive  of  many 
forms  of  practice  entirely  legitimate  by  other  schools. 
The  technical  knowledge  had  an  integral  meaning,  and 
stood  for  a  certain  order  of  procedure.  In  theology, 
with  its  conclusions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  soul,  the 
future  life,  sin,  right  living,  repentance,  redemption, 
etc. ;  in  medicine,  involving  particular  theories  held  as 


14  Science  of  Education 

to  disease  and  health,  the  functioning  of  organs,  the 
nature  and  action  of  medicines,  and  conditions  of  heal- 
ing ;  and  in  law,  standing  for  a  fairly  uniform  meaning 
given  to  social  rights  and  obligations,  the  rights  of  per- 
son and  property,  the  civic  functions  of  the  state,  and 
the  body  of  statutory  and  constitutional  enactments; 
the  profession  has  justified  its  claim  as  resting  upon 
a  body  of  organically  related  technical  knowledge  pe- 
culiar to  its  art 

Further,  and  as  a  consequence  of  the  two  charac- 
teristics named,  a  profession  can  be  reached  and  effec- 
tively practised  through  a  course  of  special  training 
only.  It  is  exclusive  and  difficult  of  mastery.  In  the 
trade  some  sort  of  skill  is  the  constructive  centre  of 
interest  and  efficiency;  in  the  profession,  a  body  of 
ideas.  The  former  are  acquired  largely  through  prac- 
tice ;  the  latter  by  reflection.  The  ideas  underlying  the 
one  are  few  and  of  more  or  less  common  possession; 
of  the  latter  both  more  numerous  and  unfamiliar,  and 
therefore  less  easily  acquired.  Mediocrity  may  be 
found  as  frequently  perhaps  among  the  professions,  in 
proportion  to  their  membership,  as  among  the  trades. 
But  superior  skill  among  the  common  trades  may  be 
attained  with  more  ease,  in  less  time,  and  with  less 
preparation  than  in  the  professions.  The  trade  readily 
takes  its  rise  from  the  common  and  average  life  and 
attainments;  the  profession  implies  a  training  in  both 
ideas  and  terms  that  are  unfamiliar  to  the  common 
mind.  The  latter,  therefore,  is  more  or  less  exclusive 
as  to  available  membership  and  difficult  of  mastery. 


Professions  and  Trades  15 

As  compared  with  the  millions  of  people  who  are  en- 
gaged in  trade  there  are  a  few  hundred  thousand  only 
who  are  even  nominally  connected  with  the  several 
so-called  professions. 

That  among  the  members  of  all  the  professions  there 
are  incompetent  ones,  and  that  among  tradesmen  there 
are  many  of  great  ability  and  success ;  that  among  tha 
former  some  have  slipped  in  with  little  training  and 
less  reflection,  or  that  in  certain  trades  members  have 
spent  years  in  acquiring  distinguished  expertness  of 
knowledge  and  skill,  does  not  invalidate  the  argument 
that,  as  a  class,  the  trades  are  taken  up  both  more 
easily  and  generally  and  with  greater  assurance  upon 
less  preparation  than  are  the  professions. 

Again,  for  the  success  in  the  professions  there  is 
required  a  large  and  liberal  general  culture  or  dis- 
cipline as  its  foundation.  General  confidence  in  the 
soundness  of  this  contention  has  led,  from  early  times, 
to  the  use  of  the  term  "  learned  professions."  There 
is  the  prevalent  belief  in  the  popular  mind,  also,  which 
has  seemed  well  founded,  that  these  professions  rest, 
as  the  trades  do  not,  upon  a  body  of  general  culture; 
breadth  of  view  upon  the  world's  doing  and  thinking; 
the  habit  of  studying  conditions,  and  weighing  evi- 
dence, and  interpreting  motives;  an  acquaintance  with 
the  race's  development  along  their  respective  lines, 
that  has  been  thought  available  only  through  years  of 
academic  and  critical  study.  It  is  conceded  that  this 
breadth  of  view,  and  critical  habit,  and  historical  back- 
ground may  be,  and  have  sometimes  been,  attained 


16  Science  of  Education 

outside  the  schools;  but  it  is  done  with  difficulty,  at 
a  great  expense  of  time,  and  by  the  few  only.  If 
acquired  by  the  tradesman  in  the  line  of  or  as  a  foun- 
dation for  his  own  business,  it  all  connects  him  more 
closely  with  the  professional.  Speaking  broadly,  those 
members  of  the  professions  also — any  profession — who 
do  not  have  this  scholarly  and  disciplined  foundation, 
of  necessity  make  their  practice  more  or  less  of  a  trade. 
Medicine  has  its  quacks ;  law,  its  pettifoggers ;  preach- 
ing, its  sensational  pretenders;  business,  those  who 
traffic  in  deceit ;  there  are  artists  who  are  only  daubers ; 
journalists  who  are  sensational  scribblers,  and  teachers 
who  "  keep  school " ;  but  these  neither  make  nor  un- 
make either  the  professions  or  trade.  The  reference 
here  is  to  both  at  their  best. 

Once  more,  a  vocation,  to  belong  to  the  class  whose 
practice  is  professional,  must  have  recognition  as  of 
great  public  utility  and  of  common  concern.  The 
three  so-called  learned  professions  have  been  supposed 
to  compass  the  race's  abiding  interests  of  gravest  im- 
port; interests  that  might  not  safely  be  left  to  undis- 
ciplined ambition  and  chance  attainments.  It  is  con- 
ceivable, indeed,  that  public  comfort  and  the  promotion 
of  the  common  welfare  might  be  endangered  by  one  or 
another  of  life's  great  occupations  in  the  class  of  trades 
also,  to  the  degree  that,  either  by  law  or  public  opinion 
and  custom,  its  members  would  be  compelled  to  reduce 
its  practice  to  a  scientific  or  principled  standard,  and 
regulate  its  art  in  accordance  therewith;  to  enforce  a 
technical  and  scholastic  preparation  as  a  condition  of 


Professions  and  Trades  17 

admission  to  its  order,  and  to  become  correspondingly 
exclusive.  Indeed,  this  change  is  now  going  on  in  a 
number  of  callings  that  have  not  heretofore  taken  rank 
among  the  professions.  This  is  noticeably  true  of 
engineering.  It  is  not  at  all  obvious  that  any  of  the 
three  so-called  "  learned  professions  "  should  to-day  be 
thought  to  outrank  engineering  on  either  of  the  five 
conditions  named.  Its  underlying  system  of  technical 
knowledge  is  fairly  complete.  Its  principles  and  skill 
are  difficult  of  acquisition;  the  current  usage  exacts, 
as  a  foundation,  a  superior  general  culture,  both  in 
amount  and  quality;  and  in  this  day  of  traffic  and 
invention  and  public  responsibility  for  the  common 
weal,  in  the  material  sense  at  least,  architectural,  sani- 
tary, and  commercial  engineering  have  come  to  high 
regard  in  society's  estimate,  and  rightly  so.  In  cities, 
at  least,  unlicensed  engineers  are  forbidden  to  practise 
their  skill ;  the  construction  of  great  buildings,  the 
building,  equipment,  and  running  of  locomotives  and 
dynamos  and  power  plants,  the  installing  of  elevators, 
the  construction  of  sewers  and  water-supply  systems, 
plumbing  and  sanitary  arrangements  upon  any  large 
scale  are  left  to  expert  specialists  only.  What  was  once 
a  trade  only  has  been  greatly  professionalized.  Along 
with  the  practice  of  this  and  the  traditional  professions 
goes  much  hack-work  and  drudgery;  but  as  a  vocation 
it  has  come  to  repute  as  having  an  established  character 
of  providence  and  accuracy.  As  to  academic  prepara- 
tion for  taking  up  the  technical  studies  among  pro- 
fessional students  in  the  United  States  there  is  shown 


18  Science  of  Education 

to  be  a  larger  per  cent,  of  engineering  students  who  are 
college-bred  than  in  either  of  the  three  professions. 

Journalism  and  diplomacy  appear  to  be  undergoing 
somewhat  similar  changes.  In  the  same  way,  and  for 
like  reasons  also,  with  the  increasing  complexity  of 
modern  life  and  its  manifold  inventions  and  the  con- 
clusions of  science,  a  closer  supervision  is,  of  necessity, 
exercised  over  its  industries.  Differences  are  recog- 
nized and  regarded  between  skilled  and  unskilled  labor ; 
the  traditional  apprenticeship  has  fallen  into  disuse; 
several  trades  maintain  their  own  separate  schools  for 
training,  and  by  some  of  the  more  highly  developed  of 
them  entrance  is  restricted  to  the  well-educated.  What- 
ever is  of  great  public  moment  becomes  thereby  a  public 
responsibility,  and  must  be  prepared  for  accordingly — 
whether  it  be  running  an  automobile,  building  high- 
ways, nursing  the  sick,  irrigating  arid  lands,  or  nego- 
tiating national  treaties.  The  professionalizing  of 
trades  is  under  way. 

Finally,  the  practice  of  an  art  to  be  professional 
must  afford  such  opportunities  for  a  career  of  civic  and 
personal  service  as  will  attract  a  capable  following  and 
command  public  respect.  It  must  offer  a  field  of  labor 
that  shall  challenge  man's  power  and  hold  him  up  to 
his  best — be  for  him,  as  an  'individual,  a  stimulus  to 
high  endeavor,  taxing  the  best  effort  because  of  the 
goal  to  be  reached,  not  less  than  from  satisfaction  in 
the  doing.  The  reward  may  be  a  public's  generous 
pay  for  a  generous  public  service;  it  may  satisfy  a 
legitimate  craving  for  a  broader  sphere  of  labor;  it 


Professions  and  Trades  19 

may  open  a  door  to  enlarged  civic  and  humane  life. 
It  takes  on  the  form  of  a  true  profession  as  it  meets 
the  aspirations  of  an  eager,  disciplined  mind,  confident 
of  its  powers  and  devoted  to  their  exercise.  It  should 
attract  ability  and  serious  purpose,  and  they  should 
find  adequate  returns  in  both  personal  reward  and 
beneficent  effort.  Each  of  a  half-dozen  or  more  great 
vocations  might  be  studied  profitably  as  to  the  bearing 
upon  them  of  this  fact.  None  of  the  three  traditional 
professions  should  suffer  by  the  comparison,  and  cer- 
tain of  the  employments,  popularly  called  trades,  would 
be  justly  exalted. 

In  the  light  of  the  previous  discussion,  speaking 
generally  and  with  approximate  accuracy,  teaching  also 
may  be  regarded  as  a  profession,  i.e.,  as  an  art,  of  great 
public  significance  and  honor,  resting  upon  a  science. 

Fairly  to  estimate  teaching  in  the  light  of  the  six 
characteristic  distinctions  of  professions  and  trades 
named  in  the  preceding  paragraph  would  require  a 
more  elaborate  discussion  than  belongs  properly  to 
these  preliminary  statements.  In  part,  the  argument 
will  find  place  in  chapters  iv-xii  inclusive.  That  it  meets 
some  of  the  requirements  fully,  and  others  partially, 
will  perhaps  be  admitted  by  all.  To  the  degree  that  it 
falls  short  on  one  or  another  count,  in  so  far,  if  the 
characterization  be  true,  it  fails  of  being  a  profession. 
If  it  conforms  in  minor  qualities,  and  is  found  wanting 
in  the  more  important  and  distinguishing  characters, 
the  deficiency  is  all  the  greater.  If  it  be  found  to  fail 
in  the  minor  attributes  only,  and  to  conform  to  the 


20  Science  of  Education 

important  requirements,  it  becomes  in  so  far  profes- 
sional. What  is  the  situation  of  teaching  among 
specialized  callings  ? 

Primarily,  it  is  in  place  to  note  the  recent  rapid 
growth  of  an  appropriate  body  of  technical  (peda- 
gogical) knowledge  as  an  attempt  to  explain  or  guide 
the  practice.  Books,  monographs,  essays,  magazine 
articles,  newspaper  contributions  and  criticism,  plat- 
form lectures,  convention  addresses,  and  class  journals, 
severally  and  in  the  aggregate,  promulgate  and  promote 
a  vast  and  varied  discussion,  sometimes  descriptive, 
often  critical,  occasionally  carping,  at  times  mischiev- 
ous, even  from  high  sources,  more  often  aggressively 
constructive,  frequently  biassed  and  partial;  but  all 
looking  toward  and  reinforced  by  a  wide-spread  assur- 
ance that  there  are  legitimate  standards  in  terms  of 
which  teaching  may  be  valued  and  the  principles  of 
which  may  be  reduced  to  a  system.  That  the  several 
systems  and  their  creeds  do  not  agree,  even  in  matters 
held  as  fundamental,  should  not  seem  more  strange 
than  are  the  contradictions  and  oppositions  and  cross- 
purposes  among  theological  systems  and  their  issuant 
creeds;  or  the  divergent  interpretations  of  constitu- 
tional and  statutory  laws;  or  the  teachings  of  estab- 
lished schools  of  medicine.  The  free-lance  in  the  pulpit, 
the  shyster  on  the  bench,  and  the  quack  at  the  bedside, 
do  not  fix  the  status  of  their  respective  callings;  no 
more  do  the  novice  and  device-monger  in  teaching. 
Under  the  protecting  shelter  of  what  is  really  meritori- 
ous the  charlatan,  the  pietist,  and  the  pedant  will  most 


Professions  and  Trades  21 

surely  flourish.  The  mummery  of  a  busy  indifferent- 
ism,  vain  ceremony,  dissimulation,  and  imposture  find 
a  strange  acceptance.  Faith  in  the  sheep  with  his 
natural  covering  blinds  the  eye  and  the  mind  to  the 
wolf  under  the  fleece. 

From  Horace  Mann  and  Henry  Barnard,  in  this 
country,  to  the  latest  writer,  American  pedagogical 
literature  has  accomplished  many  and  important  agree- 
ments. The  same  system  may  be  variously  stated  and 
organized,  and  still  be  one  system.  The  ultimate  pos- 
tulates may  issue  in  manifold  creeds  and  schools  and 
sects,  but  no  one  doubts  that  beneath  the  differences — 
and  seemingly  irreconcilable  differences — there  are 
ideals  that  abide.  These  writings  include  every  phase 
of  schooling  and  instruction,  as  well  as  the  broader 
process  of  education;  infant  and  adult  training,  the 
organization  of  schools  and  systems,  the  programme  of 
teaching,  historic  schools  and  theories,  the  development 
of  educational  ideals,  the  means  and  materials  of  in- 
struction and  their  wise  use.  There  is  a  considerable 
and  rapidly  growing  body  of  pedagogical  (technical) 
knowledge,  as  the  raw  material  out  of  which  to  con- 
struct, or  to  begin  the  construction  of,  a  science  of 
education,  and  upon  which  to  erect  a  profession  of 
teaching. 

There  is,  too,  a  growing  conception  in  the  public 
mind  of  the  indispensableness  of  professional  training 
among  teachers. 

It  is  yet  true  that  the  majority  of  teachers  are  alto- 
gether untrained  for  teaching,  except  as  the  fitting  has 


22  Science  of  Education 

come  through  experience;  but  the  extension  of  pro- 
fessional preparation  as  a  condition  precedent  to  teach- 
ing has,  in  the  cities  and  towns  at  least,  more  than 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  the  number  of  teachers. 
Many  systems  now  will  employ  no  inexperienced  or  un- 
trained teacher.  Normal  schools  and  summer  classes, 
and  extension  courses,  and  university  departments,  are 
taxed  to  their  full  capacity  to  supply  the  demand  for 
such  teachers  and  to  enrich  the  furnishing  of  teachers 
already  in  the  work.  Educational  periodicals  of  the 
better  sort  and  hundreds  of  professional  study  circles 
and  clubs  are  patronized  as  never  before.  The  concep- 
tion of  the  urgent  need  of  such  special  equipment  of 
the  teacher  is  both  intense  and  extensive.  The  lay 
influence  reinforces  the  aspirations  of  teachers.  Offi- 
cial zeal  in  a  like  way  is  not  unknown.  Parents,  once 
familiar  with  expert  education,  are  not  slow  in  reject- 
ing merely  empirical  school-keeping.  The  rural  com- 
munities, even,  are  coming  to  recognize  that  if  men 
need  a  special  training  to  breed  and  manage  profitably 
the  stock  of  the  farm,  much  more  must  it  be  true  of 
those  who  are  to  manage  and  bring  to  profitable  matu- 
rity the  boys  and  girls  of  their  homes.  Education  in 
the  full  meaning  of  the  term  is  the  one  interest  of 
supreme  importance  and  universal  concern.  It  touches 
all  families  and  every  individual  in  a  vital  way.  The 
school  is  the  institutional  expression  for  this  solicitude. 
The  teachers  of  these  schools  (of  every  sort  and  grade) 
constitute  in  the  concrete  the  professional  membership. 
With  increasing  clearness  the  services  of  this  institu- 


Professions  and  Trades  28 

tion  are  receiving  public  recognition  as  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  state  and  society  in  general. 

There  should  be  noted  also  the  current  growing  de- 
mand for  teachers  who,  occupying  whatever  position, 
have  also  larger  academic  qualifications.  The  meagre 
scholastic  discipline  of  the  great  body  of  teachers  prom- 
ises little  for  their  professional  recognition.  Both  to 
make  the  teaching  effective  and  to  justify  his  claim  to 
a  place  among  the  professions  the  teacher  must  have  a 
considerable  margin  of  scholarship  and  scholarly  cult- 
ure and  the  student  habit  away  beyond  the  immediate 
academic  requirements  of  instruction.  Theoretically, 
this  holds  for  the  traditional  professions;  practically, 
for  a  discouragingly  large  per  cent,  of  certain  of  them, 
the  requirement  is  a  dead  letter.  The  proportion  of 
teachers,  also,  in  elementary  schools  who  have  included 
a  college  training  in  their  equipment  for  the  work  is 
embarrassingly  small,  but  has  appreciably  increased 
within  a  generation.  High-school  instructors  in  all  of 
the  cities,  even  those  of  the  third  and  fourth  grade,  are 
college-bred,  perhaps  by  a  small  majority.  In  this 
respect  the  influence  of  the  colleges  upon  all  the  lower 
schools  has  been  felt  in  a  very  practical  and  effective 
way. 

Altogether  unsatisfactory  as  the  situation  is  in  cer- 
tain respects,  there  is  much  encouragement  in  the  out- 
look. An  element  of  permanence  has  been  introduced 
in  the  better  tenure  of  office  of  the  teachers  and  the 
longer  school  terms.  In  all  of  the  larger  cities  the 
salaries  have  been  considerably  advanced  in  a  decade. 


24  Science  of  Education 

Both  influences  will,  in  time,  be  felt  in  the  larger  town 
and  municipal  systems.  In  a  few  places  there  has  been 
an  increase  in  the  relative  number  of  male  teachers, 
which  again  adds  to  the  permanence  of  the  member- 
ship. About  250  colleges  and  universities  out  of  480 
such  institutions  in  the  United  States  report  courses  for 
the  training  of  teachers,  more  than  forty-two  per  cent, 
of  whose  students  were  men.  There  is  still  much  to  be 
desired  in  the  way  of  making  teaching  an  attractive 
career  for  a  body  of  membership  that  will  give  it  a 
permanent  following,  and  so  a  recognized  professional 
status.  The  transiency  of  service  and  the  very  meagre 
learning  of  a  large  body  of  teachers,  added  to  the  alto- 
gether inadequate  living  returns,  complicate  the  prob- 
lem. The  first  and  second  of  these  lie  with  teachers 
themselves  to  correct ;  the  last,  with  the  lay  officials  and 
the  general  public. 


CHAPTER  HI 
EDUCATION  AND  THE  ALLIED  ARTS 

To  understand  a  science  of  education  there  must 
first  be  determined  the  essential  nature  and  conditions 
of  the  educational  process.  Hence  the  present  chapter. 

To  this  end  it  is  needed  first  to  discriminate  roughly 
certain  of  the  terms  freely  used  by  teachers  and  the 
ideas  underlying  those  terms,  that  they  may  be  used 
intelligently.  Among  the  more  important  of  these  are : 
(1)  Teaching,  (2)  Pedagogy,  (3)  Pedagogics,  (4) 
Education.  Kindred  terms  also  that  are  often  mis- 
used are  schooling,  learning,  scholarship,  knowledge, 
information,  character,  discipline,  etc.  It  is  not  easy 
to  be  understood  when  speaking  critically  of  the  process 
underlying  these  and  similar  very  familiar  terms. 
One,  of  necessity,  gives  to  each  the  content  which  his 
life  experience  suggests.  The  sceptic  or  free-thinker 
with  the  bias  of  his  training  gives  to  traditional  and 
current  theological  phrases  a  meaning  which  a  relig- 
ionist is  far  from  accepting.  Each  thinks  of  them,  and 
no  doubt  honestly,  too,  in  accordance  with  his  mental 
furnishing.  Neither  is  likely  to  be  understood  until 
he  can  think  the  other's  meaning  into  the  other's  lan- 
guage. In  like  manner  the  well-disposed  layman  sees 

25 


26  Science  of  Education 

in  the  preacher's  words  a  different  meaning  from  that 
used  in  the  pulpit.  The  farmer  variously  construes 
the  speech  of  the  professional,  and  is  himself  misunder- 
stood in  turn.  Employer  and  employee,  because  of  a 
divergence  of  interests  or  life  training,  or  both,  use  the 
phraseology  of  industrialism  with  often  contradictory, 
and  generally  unlike,  meanings.  Similarly  with  the 
teacher;  the  simple  words  of  a  common  vocabulary 
even  are  used  by  him  bearing  a  content  but  vaguely 
apprehended,  and  maybe  differently  used  by  the  pupil. 
As  a  consequence  the  pupil  is  as  often  misinterpreted 
by  the  teacher — the  word  which  the  child  employs  be- 
ing construed  by  him  with  his  meaning,  not  the  child's. 
After  the  child  has  acquired  a  vocabulary  fairly  ade- 
quate to  his  life  wants,  education — even  school  educa- 
tion— consists  largely  in  giving  a  fuller,  or  new,  or 
corrected  content  to  these  familiar  words,  as  well  as 
giving  him  altogether  new  ideas  through  new  experi- 
ences, for  which  he  acquires  new  terms.  The  teacher 
may  fairly  be  held  responsible  for  putting  the  child's 
meaning  into  the  child's  words  as  a  common  ground 
upon  which  to  build  his  corrected  notion ;  the  child,  on 
the  other  hand,  must  be  educated  up  to  putting  into  his 
own  words  the  teacher's  meaning  or  learning's  content. 
Between  two  persons  who  engage  in  any  mutual  com- 
munication there  must,  of  course,  be  a  common  lan- 
guage; but  the  common  ground  of  intercourse  is  the 
meaning  underlying  the  language,  not  the  symbols 
alone,  of  speech  or  manner. 

So,  in  a  somewhat  similar  sense,  if  the  author  is  to 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          27 

be  understood,  his  meaning  must  be  used  in  interpret- 
ing his  words.  Let  it  be  said  here,  therefore,  as  it 
will  be  said  many  times  in  the  following  pages,  that 
what  is  being  here  considered  is  education,  and  not 
schooling;  the  process  of  maturing  and  acquiring  effi- 
ciency ;  of  knowing  how,  and  being  able,  and  disposed, 
to  live,  and  live  more  abundantly;  not  merely  or  nar- 
rowly the  learning  of  books.  This  latter  has  its  place 
as  one  of  the  instruments  of  furthering  and  directing 
education  to  wise  and  wholesome  ends.  But  it  is  not 
education,  it  is  a  tool  only;  sometimes  the  best  tool, 
upon  occasion  an  inferior  one. 

Education,  then,  may  be  characterized  broadly  as 
the  generic  process  which  in  the  individual  is  called 
"  development " ;  in  the  race,  civilization.  Without  the 
former  the  latter  would  not  be.  The  improvement  of 
some,  of  a  considerable  number,  and,  in  a  general  way, 
of  all  of  the  individuals  of  the  race  is  necessary  if  the 
race  is  to  advance.  The  unequal  development  of  the 
constituent  members,  and  their  often  antagonistic  and 
obstructive  growths,  make  the  civilizing  process  slow, 
inconstant,  and  wayward.  It  is  one  of  the  great  prob- 
lems of  schooling  how  to  bring  all  the  youth,  and  the 
adults  too,  under  the  wholesome  influences  of  a  far- 
seeing  and  provident  training.  This  is  the  problem 
that  faced  Charlemagne  and  King  Alfred,  and  the 
great  rulers  of  all  times  and  nations,  as  their  purposes 
looked  toward  the  manhood  of  their  subjects.  But  this 
development  goes  on  whether  it  be  consciously  directed 
or  not.  Boys  grow  to  men,  girls  come  to  womanhood. 


28  Science  of  Education 

Individual  experiences  accumulate,  life  becomes  more 
complex.  Responsibilities  increase.  They  must  be 
met.  An  adult  future  must  be  provided  for.  Toil,  in 
some  sort,  is  the  portion  of  each.  In  the  effort  to  adjust 
himself  to  the  changing  conditions  adjustment  becomes 
easier.  Resourcefulness  increases,  and  the  more  re- 
sourceful survive,  and,  in  perpetuating  themselves,  per- 
petuate this  quality.  The  art  of  living  with  others  is 
acquired,  and,  in  time,  living  upon  a  little  higher  plane. 
Life  becomes  safer,  because  living  is  more  considerate. 
Tools  of  learning  are  acquired,  and  they  multiply.  By 
the  term  "  Education,"  as  here  used,  is  meant  this 
process  of  maturing,  coming  to  adulthood,  in  all  that 
makes  for  efficiency  and  happiness.  Knowledge  of  the 
sciences  and  language  and  history  and  mathematics 
helps  to  assure  these  results.  But  education  is  growth, 
not  accumulation,  or,  at  best,  growth  through  accumu- 
lation and  the  using  of  experience.  It  means  the 
developing  of  power  and  interest  from  step  to  step — 
not  a  static  condition  of  the  mind  at  any  stage. 

Being  a  correlate  of  civilization,  an  insight  into  the 
nature  of  education  may  be  had  from  the  study  of  the 
history — culture  and  conduct  history — of  a  people  in 
their  rise  from  primitive  conditions  to  successively 
higher  grades  of  efficiency  and  comfort.  Teachers  may, 
with  profit,  study  the  development  of  art  in  the  race, 
and  conduct,  and  ethics,  and  industry,  and  conventional 
forms  for  an  understanding  of  the  educational  process 
in  the  individual.  Literature,  which,  being  a  form  of 
fine  art,  is  the  effort  of  the  race  to  express  its  ideals 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          29 

of  life  and  conduct  and  faith,  is  particularly  helpful. 
Here  may  be  found  the  refined  essence  of  educational 
doctrine.  Taken  historically,  the  evolution  of  man's 
ideals  is  apparent.  His  conception  of  these  ideals,  the 
conditions  for  their  attainment,  and  the  developing  use 
of  the  means  at  hand  in  the  several  periods — all  reveal 
a  gradual  becoming  that  is  the  essence  of  the  educa- 
tional process.  What  is  known  as  the  culture-epoch 
theory  of  schooling  will  come  up  for  its  own  considera- 
tion elsewhere.*  It  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that  this 
theory  is  valuable,  not  so  much  for  guidance  in  teach- 
ing, as  useful  in  directing  one's  studies  in  the  nature 
of  education.  Their  results  lie  well  behind  the  prac- 
tise of  the  art  of  instruction,  and  give  color  to  it 
indirectly  only  and  through  the  underlying  doc- 
ine. 

Pedagogics  as  here  used  is  the  science  that  explains 
and  accounts  for  this  educational  process  in  the  indi- 
vidual or  the  philosophy  of  his  development.  It  is 
generic  and  comprehensive.  In  a  sense  it  is,  as  con- 
cerns the  individual,  the  science  which  corresponds  with 
the  science  of  history,  if  history  is  made  to  include  all 
of  mankind's  congregate  acts  of  conduct  that  have  saved 
themselves  in  human  institutions.  In  this  sense  the 
science  of  history  is  an  accounting  for  great  institu- 
tional changes  through  a  knowledge  of  the  social  and 
personal  forces  that  have  made  for  social  development 
and  an  organization  of  these  into  a  system.  /.  So  the 
science  of  education — Pedagogics — is  that  body  of  doc- 

*  See  Chapter  XTTJ. 


30  Science  of  Education 

trine  that  seeks  to  explain  the  nature  of  man  as  a 
developing  creature,  the  motives  and  conditions  in- 
volved in  his  maturing,  and  the  social  and  personal 
factors  that  enter  into  the  problem.  The  materials  of 
this  science,  and  the  end  to  which  they  are  used,  are 
different  from  the  materials  and  purposes  comprised 
in  a  science  of  teaching.  The  former  might  exist  inde- 
pendently of  the  schools ;  the  latter,  not  That  implies 
an  environing  world  of  happenings  and  certain  aggres- 
sive instincts;  this,  both  these  and  a  teacher.  That  is 
generic  and  has  a  philosophical  interest  even  to  the 
layman ;  this  is  technical,  and  concerns  only,  or  chiefly, 
one  profession.  This  has  to  do  with  one  institution, 
that  with  life  in  several  institutions,  under  the  conduct 
codes  which  man  has  evolved  through  successive  gen- 
erations. The  one  is  specific  and  professional,  the 
other  cultural. 

Pedagogy  may  be  regarded  as  this  narrower  science 
of  teaching,  or  the  science  of  "  directed  "  education. 
This  refers  to  the  principles  that  underlie  the  art — 
man's  art  of  giving  direction  to  this  educational  proc- 
ess, or  reinforcing  nature's  efforts  at  educating  man. 
The  science  of  teaching  takes  for  granted  much  which 
the  science  of  education  has  worked  out.  It  adds  its 
own  dicta  concerning  the  machinery  of  the  school,  the 
means  to  be  employed,  the  sequence  of  exercises,  selec- 
tion of  material,  the  mode  of  procedure,  the  conditions 
of  training,  habit-forming,  etc.  It  involves  all  matters 
in  which  purposeful  exercises  are  used  to  fix  the 
amount  and  character  and  shape  the  order  of  this  indi- 


Education  and  the  AlUed  Arts          31 

vidual  growth.  The  science  of  teaching  will  make  con- 
sideration of  the  nature  of  the  child,  as  to  instincts, 
capacity,  and  habits,  as  these  react  upon  the  work  of 
the  school;  and  of  his  home  surroundings  and  social 
connections,  for  the  same  reason.  Pedagogy  is  of 
primary  concern  to  the  teacher  as  a  teacher.  The 
attempt  to  follow  its  dictates  is  an  effort  to  make  teach- 
ing something  more  than  an  empirical  art — to  make 
its  aims  and  steps  scientific.  It  leaves  the  "  rule  of 
thumb  "  procedure  and  seeks  to  rest  the  art  upon  valid 
and  sufficient  reasons.  Nothing  is  longer  done  by 
chance  or  just  because  it  has  been  done  so.  Teaching 
is  made  thoughtful,  and  the  reflection  is  upon  the  prin- 
ciples that  justify,  or  explain,  or  condemn  the  art.  It 
is  not  less  but  more  an  art,  often  a  fine  art,  as  it  be- 
comes rational;  all  the  more  effective,  as  it  has  in  it 
more  thought,  and  this  thought  accords  with  the  real 
nature  of  the  educational  process  and  the  nature  of 
learning. 

Teaching  is  the  practice  of  principles  set  forth  in 
Pedagogy.  It  is  much  more  difficult  to  do  things  well 
than  merely  to  know  how.  An  intelligent  practice  of 
a  well-founded  art,  any  art,  is  a  great  achievement. 
All  persons  respect  efficiency,  the  ability  and  the  habit 
of  doing  things  well;  and  all  the  more  if  the  things 
done  are  difficult  of  achievement.  Incidental  factors 
enter  into  the  doing  that  do  not,  of  right,  appear  in 
the  theory.  Moods  of  the  child  and  the  teacher,  physi- 
cal conditions  of  the  weather  and  the  material  sur- 
roundings and  equipment,  incidents  of  the  home  and 


32  Science  of  Education 

social  life,  biases  of  race  and  domestic  and  conventional 
training,  the  requirements  of  the  particular  system 
in  which  one  is  engaged — all  modify  the  teaching  art. 
Because  any  one,  or  several,  or  all  of  these  are  ignored 
or  badly  interpreted,  the  teaching  may  be  otherwise 
good  in  theory  and  unavailing  in  practice.  Other 
things  being  equal,  whether  it  be  in  the  achievement 
artistic  or  clumsy  will  depend  in  large  measure  upon 
whether  these  accidental  conditions  have  been  taken 
into  wise  consideration  or  not.  They  have  little  place 
in  a  science  of  teaching,  but  have  a  large  significance 
in  its  art.  An  urgent  need  in  the  school-room  to-day 
is  not  merely  teachers  who  know  more  of  educational 
theory,  but  those  who  make  daily  and  studied  effort 
to  have  this  accustomed  practice  conform  to  the  highest 
insight  they  have — whether  much  or  little — into  the 
working  meanings  of  the  doctrine  of  their  profession; 
not  teaching,  however  good,  in  traditional  ways  only, 
but  thoughtful  teaching,  personally  critical  of  one's 
requirements  and  directions;  that  one  shall  be  able  to 
give  a  reason  for,  or  a  reasonable  justification  of  one's 
practice.  In  every  department  of  art  the  practice  is 
subject  to  the  weakening  encroachments  of  habit;  and 
the  teacher,  dealing  as  he  does  with  the  manifoldness 
of  spirit,  has  constant  need  of  a  frequent  revision  of 
her  doing.  The  accidental  and  individual  conditions 
must  receive  their  share  of  the  teacher's  attention  in 
the  school  life. 

Any  training  of  teachers  that  stops  short  of  testing 
the  theory  of  intending  applicants  by  much  and  thought- 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          33 

ful  practice  is  partial,  if  not  worse.  The  immediate 
concern  of  the  teacher,  once  in  the  school,  is  this  teach- 
ing act,  this  practice.  His  primary  interest  should 
be  in  the  soundness  of  the  principles  underlying  the 
act.  The  latter  must  dominate  the  practice  without 
being  themselves  consciously  held.  No  teaching  should 
l)e  called  good  in  which  the  theory  is  obtrusive,  even  to 
the  teacher's  mind ;  neither  may  it  be  regarded  as  good 
if  it  be  merely  empirical  or  traditional. 

It  will  be  apparent  from  the  preceding  discussion 
that  none  of  these  terms  characterize  the  educational 
process,  though  they  all  bear  upon  it.  So  of  schooling, 
learning,  and  scholarship;  often  even  knowledge  and 
information;  sometimes  character  and  discipline; — 
they  are  terms  that  name  mental  or  spiritual  products  or 
qualities,  that  connote  the  school,  and  more  or  less  of 
directed  training,  and  so  become  tools  or  signs  of  edu- 
cation, but  nothing  more.  "  Education,"  says  Presi- 
dent Eliot,  "is  neither  knowledge  nor  learning;  it 
means  a  love  of  knowledge  and  a  capacity  for  learn- 
ing." The  impulse  to  know  whereof  we  speak,  and  to 
fix  the  province  of  education,  has  resulted  in  various 
characterizations  of  education,  its  aim  and  conditions, 
some  of  which  are  brought  together  here  in  the  follow- 
ing list.  In  general,  these  are  the  studied  statements 
of  men  whose  opinions  are  worthy  of  respect.  As  an 
aid  in  understanding  the  nature  of  education  as  a 
process,  these  accepted  historic  and  often-quoted  defini- 
tions may  be  helpfully  examined  and  compared  in  the 
light  of  the  preceding  pages.  Many  others  might  be 


34  Science  of  Education 

added  to  these,  and  all  of  them  critically  valued  by  the 
thoughtful  teachers. 


Education  Characterized  by  the  Masters 

1.  What  sculpture  is  to  the  block  of  marble,  educa- 
tion is  to  the  human  soul. — Addison. 

2.  The  true  aim  of  education  is  the  attainment  of 
happiness  through  perfect  virtue. — Aristotle. 

3.  Education  includes  the  efforts  made  of  set  pur- 
pose to  train  men  in  a  particular  way ;  more  especially, 
the  labor  of  professional  educators,  or  school-masters. — 
Bain. 

4.  Education  is  the  sum  of  the  reflective  efforts,  by 
which  we  aid  nature  in  the  development  of  the  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral  faculties  of  man;  in  view 
of  his  perfection,  his  happiness,  and  his  social  distinc- 
tion.— Compayre. 

v  5.  Education  is  a  development  of  the  whole  man. — 
Comenius. 

6.  Education  is  not  a  preparation  for  life ;  it  is  lifa 
— Dewey. 

7.  The  end  of  education  is  to  train  away  all  im- 
pediment, and  leave  only  pure  power. — Emerson. 

8. .  Education,  in  instruction  and  training,  originally, 
and  in  its  first  principles,  is  necessarily  passive,  watch- 
fully and  protectively  following,  not  dictatorial,  not 
forcibly  interfering. — Froebel. 

9.  The  object  of  an  education  is  the  realization  of  a 
faithful,  pure,  inviolate,  and  hence  holy  life. — Froebel. 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          35 

10.  The  primary  principle  of  education  is  the  deter- 
mination of  the  pupil  to  self-activity. — Hamilton. 

11.  The  end  of  education  is  to  produce  a  well-bal- 
anced many-sidedness  of  interest. — Herbart. 

12.  Whatever  influence  man's  environment  (ethical 
relations  and  natural  surroundings)  has  upon  his  native 
capacities  and  faculties,  to  occasion  them  to  grow  into 
powers  or  habits,  is  called  education. — Hoose. 

13.  Education  is  the  instruction  of  intellect  in  the 
laws  of   nature;    under   which   name   I    include,   not 
merely  things  and  their  forces,  but  men  and  their  ways ; 
and  the  fashioning  of  the  affections  and  the  will  into 
an  earnest  and  loving  desire  to  move  in  harmony  with 
their  laws. — Huxley. 

14.  Education  is  the  organization  of  acquired  habits 
of  conduct  and  tendencies  of  behavior. — James. 

15.  It  is  the  purpose  of  education  so  to  exercise  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  that  the  infinitely  varied  experi- 
ences of  after-life  may  be  observed  and  reasoned  upon 
with  the  best  effect. — Jevons. 

16.  The  purpose  of  education  is  to  train  children, 
not  with  reference  to  their  success  in  the  present  (life) 
state  of   society,   but  to   a   better   possible   state,    in 
accordance   with    an   ideal    conception   of    humanity. 
— Kant. 

->17.  Education  gives  more  quickly  and  easily  that 
which  one  might  have  developed  from  within  himself. 
\  — Lessing. 

18.  The  object  of  education  is  preparation  for  more 
effective  service  in  church  and  state. — Luther. 


36  Science  of  Education 

19.  The  attainment  of  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body 
is  the  end  of  education. — Locke. 

20.  Education  is  the  art  of  forming  men,  not  spe- 
cialists.— Montaigne. 

21.  Education  includes  the  culture  which  each  gen- 
eration purposely  gives  to  those  who  are  to  be  its  suc- 
cessors in  order  to  qualify  them  for  at  least  keeping 
up,  and,  if  possible,  raising,  the  improvement  that  has 
been  attained. — Mill. 

22.  I  call  a  complete  and  generous  education  that 
which  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skilfully,  and  mag- 
nanimously all  the  offices,  both  public  and  private,  of 
peace  and  war. — Milton. 

23.  Education  is  not  the  storing  of  knowledge,  but 
the  development  of  power. — Orcutt. 

24.  The  function  of  education  is  to  assist  and  direct 
the  processes  of  physical  and  mental  growth  during  the 
formative  periods  of  childhood  and  youth. — Painter. 

25.  Education  consists  in  giving  to  the  body  and  the 
soul  all  the  perfection  of  which  they  are  susceptible. 
— Plato. 

26.  The  end  of  education   and  the  instruction   of 
youth  is  to  make  men  better;  not  simply  more  intelli- 
gent, but  more  moral. — Plato. 

27.  Education   means    a   natural,    progressive,    and 
systematic    development    of    all    the    powers. — Pesta- 
lozzi. 

28.  The  main  purpose  of  education  is  to  permit  the 
individual  to  participate  in  the  conscious  knowledge 
(life)  of  the  race. — Payne. 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          37 

29.  Education  aims  at  the  realization  of  the  typical 
man. — Payne. 

30.  The  realization  of  all  the  possibilities  of  human 
growth  and  development  is  education. — Parker. 

31.  True  education  is  the  presentation  of  the  con- 
ditions necessary  for  the  evolution  of  personality  into 
freedom. — Parker. 

32.  The  change  through  which  the  mind  passes  is 
an  evolution;  and  the  process  by  which  this  change  is 
brought  about,  and  which  we  call  education,  is  develop- 
ment.— Palmer. 

33.  The  aim  of  education  is  the  forming  of  a  com- 
plete man,  skilled  in  art  and  industry. — Rabelais. 

34.  It  is  the  business  of  education  to  develop  the 
ideal  prize  man. — Eichter. 

35.  Education  is  the  shaping  of  the  individual  life 
by  the  process  of  nature,  the  rhythmical  movement  of 
national  customs,  and  the  might  of  destiny,  in  which 
each  one  finds  limits  set  to  his  arbitrary  will. — Rosen- 
kranz. 

36.  It  is  the  nature  of  education  to  assist  in  pro- 
ducing that  only  which  the  subject  would  strive  most 
earnestly  to  develop  for  himself  if  he  had  a  clear  idea 
of  himself. — Rosenkranz. 

37.  Education   is   the   process   by  which   the   indi- 
vidual man  elevates  himself  to  the   species. — Rosen- 
kranz. 

38.  Education  is  the  influencing  of  man  by  man, 
and  has  for  its  end  to  lead  him  to  actualize  himself 
through  his  own  efforts. — Rosenkranz. 


f 
A 


38  Science  of  Education 

39.  Education  is  nothing  but  the  formation  of  hab- 
its.— Rousseau. 

40.  The  aim  of  education  is  to  dispel  error  and  to 
discover  truth. — Socrates. 

41.  How  to  live  completely;  this  is  the  one  great 
thing  which  education  has  to  teach. — Spencer. 

42.  In  education  success  is  to  be  achieved  only  by 
rendering  our  measures  subservient  to  that  spontaneous 
unfolding  which  all  minds  go  through  in  their  progress 
toward  maturity. — Spencer. 

43.  Education  is  the  designed  influence  of  society 
upon  the  individual,   concentrated  and  reduced  to   a 
systematic  form. — Sully. 

44.  A  child  is  educated  by  what  he  does  for  himself 
and  by  himself. — Swift. 

45.  I  do  not  know  what  remains  to  be  desired  in 
the  ordinary  purpose  of  life,   if  the  body  be   sound 
and  in  high  health,    and   the   mind  be  alert. — Isaac 
Taylor. 

46.  The  end  of  education  is  triple:  (1)  to  develop 
the  mental  faculties,   (2)  to  communicate  knowledge, 
and  (3)  to  mould  character. — Thiry. 

47.  A  pupil  comes  to  us  a  bundle  of  inherited  capaci- 
ties and  tendencies,  labelled  from  the  indefinite  past 
to  the  indefinite  future,  and  he  makes  his  transit  from 
the  one  to  the  other  through  the  education  of  the  pres- 
ent time.     The  object  of  that  education  is,  or  ought  to 
be,  to  provide  wise  exercise  for  his  capacities,  wise 
direction  for  his  tendencies,  and  through  this  exercise 
and  this  direction  to  furnish  his  mind  with  such  knowl- 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          39 

edge  as  may  contribute  to  the  usefulness,  the  beauty, 
and  the  nobleness  of  his  life. — Tyndall. 

48.  Education  means  the  universal  distribution  of 
extant  knowledge. — Ward. 

49.  Education  is  any  process  or  act  which  results  in 
knowledge  or  power  or  skill. — White. 

It  will  be  apparent  at  once  to  the  thoughtful  that 
a  considerable  number  of  these  definitions,  perhaps 
most  of  them,  are  definitions  of  school  education,  gen- 
erally idealized.  Distinctly  such  are  numbers  17,  24, 
and  43.  They  all  refer,  as  do  some  of  the  others,  to 
directed  education.  Many  of  them  are  given  in  terms 
of  the  object  or  aim  of  education,  as  numbers  7,  11, 
16,  28,  49.  Others  characterize  education  in  terms  of 
the  instrumentalities  used,  as  shown  in  numbers  12, 
21,  and  35.  Less  than  half  of  them  come  from  school- 
men; most  of  them  from  philosophers  and  theorists, 
or  literary  men.  The  business  men  of  to-day,  of  any 
day  perhaps,  would  characterize  education  in  terms  of 
one  or  another  of  its  products ;  generally  as  some  form 
of  practical  skill,  occasionally  as  right  habits.  Speak- 
ing broadly,  however,  most  of  those  given  agree  in  the 
conviction  that  the  end  of  education  is  in  the  use  made; 
of  knowledge,  rather  than  any  amount  or  kind  of 
knowledge  itself ;  that  it  is  abundant  life,  not  abundant 
scholarship;  in  growth,  not  in  any  particular  skill; 
that  it  consists  in  an  evolution,  not  in  acquisition,  or 
life  through  scholarship;  skill  accompanied  by  growth,  j 
or  acquisition  in  terms  of  evolution. 


40  Science  of  Education 

In  the  interpretation  of  education  thinkers  and 
writers  may  be  classified  into  schools,  representing  dif- 
ferent views,  just  as  theologians  may  be  so  grouped, 
or  physicians,  or  philosophers,  or  scientists,  or  histo- 
rians. This  will  usually  depend  upon  the  emphasis 
placed  upon  individual  initiative,  the  inner  native 
urgency  that  demands  recognition.  For  example,  one 
school  of  writers  and  teachers  holds  that  school  educa- 
tion must  be  prescriptive;  the  opposition  that  it  is 
passive  and  following.  Froebel,  in  another  wording 
of  the  definition  given  in  8  above,  says :  "Education  in 
instruction  and  training,  originally  and  in  its  first  prin- 
ciples, is  necessarily  passive,  following  (only  guarding 
and  protecting),  not  prescriptive,  categorical,  and  in- 
terfering." Bain,  on  the  other  hand,  says  (No.  3)  : 
"  Education  includes  the  efforts  made  of  set  purpose  to 
train  men  in  a  particular  way."  And  Addison :  "  What 
sculpture  is  to  the  block  of  marble,  education  is  to  the 
human  soul."  Of  the  first  class  is  Hamilton  (No.  10), 
who  would  have  education  to  mean  "  the  determination 
of  the  pupil  to  self -activity  " ;  or  Spencer,  who  would 
have  "  our  measures  subservient  to  the  spontaneous  un- 
folding which  all  minds  go  through  in  their  progress 
toward  maturity."  Of  the  second  class  is  Sully,  whose 
definition,  "  Education  is  the  designed  influence  of 
society  upon  the  individual,  concentrated  and  reduced 
to  a  systematic  form,"  reduces  the  child's  initiative  to 
a  minimum ;  and  Ward,  who  makes  education  to  mean 
"  the  universal  distribution  of  extant  knowledge."  Of 
the  two  schools  the  one  represents  this  education  as 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          41 

being  creative,  the  other  concessive ;  the  doctrine  of  tho 
one  is  positive,  the  other  tentative.  The  one  emphasizes 
courses  and  prescriptive  exercises;  the  other,  electives 
and  options.  The  idea  in  the  one  is  more  or  less  archi- 
tectural; the  other  concedes  much  to  freedom  and 
diversity.  With  the  former  the  teacher  is  the  deter- 
mining factor  in  a  directed  education;  with  the  latter, 
the  pupil.  These  exalt  the  disposition  to  do,  and  know, 
and  enjoy ;  those,  some  particular  doing  or  knowing  or 
enjoyment. 

In  general,  the  trend  of  current  thought  is  away  from 
an  unyielding  prescription,  the  dictations  of  authority, 
uniform  courses,  and  the  traditional  formal  disciplines ; 
toward  a  dominating  respect  for  the  child's  initiative, 
elastic  programmes,  credit  for  voluntary  work,  a  freer 
play  of  the  child's  instincts  and  constitutional  biases 
of  growth.  The  system  counts  for  less,  perhaps,  the 
learner  for  more.  Reliance  upon  class  rank,  and  fig- 
ures of  advancement,  and  measured  and  recorded  prog- 
ress is  depreciating.  Growth  is  seen  to  be  individual, 
and  education  is  an  individual  process.  Guidance 
must  be  of  the  one,  not  the  group.  Service  here  can 
have  little  wholesale  market. 

But,  as  appears  from  the  great  definitions  by  great 
minds  in  all  ages,  there  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  education,  whether  of  school  or  of  life,  looks 
toward  socializing  the  individual.  "  The  main  pur- 
pose of  education,"  says  W.  H.  Payne,  "  is  to  permit 
the  individual  to  participate  in  the  conscious  knowl- 
edge (life)  of  the  race."  It  is  a  familiar  thought  of 


42  Science  of  Education 

Dr.  Harris  that  "  all  education  is  an  attempt  to  over- 
come the  isolation  of  the  undeveloped  individual;  or 
to  emancipate  the  individual  child  from  his  isolation." 
Elsewhere  his  phrase  is  "  to  give  each  person  in  the 
social  whole  the  net  results  of  the  experience  of  all  his 
fellows."  From  a  very  different  point  of  view,  but 
with  equal  emphasis  and  cogency,  Dr.  Dewey  has  been 
wont  to  say:  "The  primary  function  of  education  is 
social." 

By  all  of  which  is  meant  simply  that  an  educated 
man  is  able  and  disposed  to  perform  well  his  function 
as  an  organic  part  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs; 
a  patriotic  citizen  of  his  country;  an  efficient  member 
of  his  own  state ;  a  good  neighbor ;  a  wise  father,  ready 
and  equipped  to  bear  his  share  of  civic  responsibility 
in  his  social  group ;  an  interested,  active,  helpful  mem- 
ber of  the  several  great  institutions,  under  the  social 
codes  worked  out  by  the  race. 

Once  more,  in  most  of  the  definitions  it  appears  that 
education  is  regarded  as  a  process  of  unfolding ;  an  evo- 
lution, not  an  involution,  reinforced  by  exercises  care- 
fully graded  to  suit  the  child's  development  Stein's 
definition  ("  Education  is  the  harmonious  and  equable 
evolution  of  human  powers"),  Pestalozzi's  (27),  and 
Palmer's  (32),  are  only  representative  of  a  group  of 
definitions  of  this  class  that  for  a  generation  have  been 
very  popular.  They  stand  for  a  real  distinction  in 
school  doctrine,  and  are  worthy  of  recognition. 

Summarizing  freely  what  has  been  given  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  it  appears  that  education  may  be  viewed 


Education  and  the  Allied  Arts          43 

as  a  process;  it  may  be  viewed  from  the  side  of  its 
products;  it  may  be  thought  of  as  native  or  spontane- 
ous; or  as  prescribed  and  directed;  as  an  art,  having 
its  corresponding  science;  and  finally,  in  terms  of  its 
instrumentalities — i.e.,  the  school  or  other  environment. 
It  is  essentially  a  process,  native  and  life-long.  Pre- 
scriptive exercises  may  further  or  hasten  the  process, 
and  a  clear  view  of  legitimate  passing  results  may  make 
the  guidance  more  rational  and  wholesome. 


CHAPTER  IV 

TENTATIVE   CHARACTERISTICS   OF 
EDUCATION 

LITTLE  attempt  has  been,  or  will  be,  made  to  for- 
mulate exclusive  definitions  of  education,  though  this 
and  the  following  chapter  are  given  to  a  description 
of  the  process,  through  stating  and  discussing  its  more 
or  less  obvious  characters.  The  more  important  of 
these  are  here  enumerated  and  considered.  As  state- 
ments of  the  distinguishing  features  of  education  they 
are  approximate  and  tentative.  They  rather  point  out 
the  striking  qualities  of  the  process  than  fix  its  limits 
with  any  exclusiveness.  Indeed,  the  entire  list  is  de- 
scriptive rather  than  definitive,  tentative  rather  than 
dogmatic,  basic  rather  than  final,  and  submitted  as 
approximate. 

Primarily,  be  it  observed  that  education  is  a  mental 
fact.  Modern  thought  has  moved  far  from  the  once 
ruling  dictum :  "  There  is  nothing  great  in  the  world 
but  man,  and  nothing  great  in  man  but  mind."  In 
the  world  other  creations  are  equally  great  in  their 
way;  and  in  man,  the  body,  as  the  habitation  of  the 
soul,  has  its  own  divine  appointments.  Without  here 
discussing  the  priority  of  either,  or  their  intricate 

44 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     45 

mutual  dependencies,  and  resting  upon  the  conclusions 
of  modern  science  as  to  the  physiological  accompani- 
ments of  all  mental  action,  it  still  remains  true  that 
the  processes  called  mental  are,  in  thought,  distinct 
from  those  called  physical,  and  that  education  is  con- 
cerned with  the  former;  i.e.j  it  is  a  maturing  of  the 
spiritual  powers. 

Through  training  the  finger  may  be  given  a  particu- 
lar skill,  the  body  a  fine  grace,  the  muscular  frame 
great  strength,  the  eye  sharp  discriminations  of  light 
and  shade,  and,  in  general,  the  organism  made  a  choice 
accompaniment  of  the  mind.  The  fingers  have  their 
memory  in  the  executions  of  facile  and  delicate  touch; 
the  body  its  traditions  of  elegance  and  dignity;  the 
strong,  athletic  frame  its  indomitable  purpose  and  ag- 
gressive will;  the  special  senses  an  easy  adjustment 
of  precision  and  alertness  and  fine  perspective;  but 
whether  it  be  bodily  grace,  or  acute  senses,  or  an  ath- 
letic frame,  or  a  vigorous  habit,  it  will  be  granted, 
doubtless,  that  the  essential  fact  in  each  instance  is  not 
a  physical,  but  a  mental  one.  The  value  of  the  exer- 
cise is  practically  commensurate  with  the  intelligent 
purpose  put  into  it.  So  much  thought,  so  much  profit 
Purposeful  doing  which  results  in  time  through  repe- 
tition in  automatic  doing,  was  educative  in  the  process 
to  the  degree  that  thought  was  put  into  it.  All  calis- 
thenics and  gymnastics,  Delsarte  training,  and  indi- 
vidual and  class  evolutions  are  worth  so  much  as,  in 
their  translation  into  habits,  intelligence  and  personal 
effort  have  entered  into  them.  But  all  of  them  are 


46  Science  of  Education 

illustrations  of  training,  rather  than  of  education;  a 
change  that  results  in  fixed  states  of  skill,  rather  than 
active  biases  of  the  mind  that  are  themselves  forces 
looking  to  further  change. 

Notwithstanding  there  are  these  physiological  impli- 
cations in  most  if  not  all  of  the  functioning  of  the 
mind,  the  progress  of  the  mind  toward  maturity,  rather 
than  that  of  the  body  and  bodily  organs,  is  the  pre- 
eminently great  fact.  The  increasingly  fuller  func- 
tioning of  the  powers  of  the  mind,  the  more  certain 
control  of  the  mental  processes,  the  bringing  of  more 
and  more  of  one's  experiences  into  use  for  living,  the 
better  integration  of  these  mental  furnishings,  the  tak- 
ing on  of  more  and  more  definite  interests,  the  greater 
openness  of  mind  as  the  view  becomes  wider — these 
are  of  the  nature  of  education.  They  are  mental  as 
discriminated  from  the  narrowly  physiological  changes. 
The  body  also  matures,  but  chiefly  through  taking  on 
more  or  less  fixed  states  of  efficiency.  The  mind,  too, 
reveals  in  various  ways  this  quality,  and  so  shows  its 
fitness  for  training.  But,  in  a  marked  way,  its  equi- 
librium is  a  moving  one,  and  the  possibilities  of  im- 
provement continuous  through  life.  Every  vantage 
ground  gained  by  the  mind  is  a  ground  to  be  surren- 
dered. Every  effect  worked  becomes  a  cause  of  further 
effects.  The  "  stream  of  consciousness "  is  a  force 
making  for  change,  and  itself  subject  to  change, 
throughout  its  course.  Education  is  this  advance 
toward  and  through  successively  higher  stages  of  men- 
tal enrichment,  of  efficiency  and  happiness.  It  is  not 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education    47 

only  a  process,  and  not  alone  a  process  of  maturing, 
but  the  process  through  which  the  mind  goes  in  its 
approach  toward  maturity.  The  emphasis  is  upon  the 
spiritual  life,  and  the  change  is  a  spiritual  change, 
•reeducation  is  thus  to  be  regarded  as  a  process  rather 
than  in  terms  of  its  products.  Speaking  popularly, 
however,  and  in  the  phrase  of  a  majority  of  the  defi- 
nitions given,  education  may  be  thought  of  also  in 
terms  of  its  products  or  in  terms  of  its  instrumentali- 
ties. It  is  a  sort  of  metonymy  in  thought,  whereby,  for 
the  thing  meant,  an  accompaniment  is  substituted. 
Conceding  for  the  moment  that  this  something  called 
education  "  is  life  rather  than  a  preparation  for  life," 
i.e.,  that  it  is  primarily  a  process,  there  are,  neverthe- 
less, certain  products  that  are  of  so  great  moment  that, 
in  one  degree  or  another,  they  may  be  considered  as 
signs  of  the  culture  change.  Such  are  scholarship,  in 
varying  degrees;  skill  as  usually  understood,  or  the 
power  to  turn  learning  to  account;,  character,  in  the 
sense  of  good  character;  discipline,  the  formal  dis- 
cipline of  the  schools,  etc.  Most  of  these  are  con- 
comitants of  any  real  education,  whether  received  un- 
der formal  instruction  or  not.  Some  degree  of  scholar- 
ship follows  as  a  matter  of  course.  Through  contact 
with  scholarly  people  one  would  come  to  share  some- 
thing of  the  common  possessions  and  the  common  spirit 
of  culture.  No  one,  however  bookishly  trained,  is 
entirely  devoid  of  the  power  to  utilize  his  knowledge. 
Life  itself  compels  certain  adaptations  that  make  a 
degree  of  efficiency.  Along  with  the  improvement  in 


48  Science  of  Education 

learning,  the  race  has  appreciably  raised  its  standards 
of  personal  and  social  behavior.  With  all  enlargement 
of  the  human  power  to  create  and  enjoy,  has  gone  a 
convergence  of  one's  powers,  a  grip  upon  his  experi- 
ence that  is  the  essence  of  mental  discipline.  But  these 
are  not  education — only  passing  and  more  or  less  shift- 
ing products  of  education.  Indeed,  one  may  have 
attained  one  or  another  of  them,  and  still  be  little 
deserving  of  the  title,  "  an  educated  man."  One  may 
be  well  educated  and  be  almost  totally  wanting  in  cer- 
tain of  these  generally  trustworthy  signs. 

In  popular  phrase,  an  educated  person  is  one  of  large 
scholarship;  and,  conversely,  a  scholarly  man  is  there- 
fore supposed  to  be  educated.  In  general,  perhaps, 
both  statements  are  fairly  true.  Of  course,  by  scholar- 
ship is  meant  much  more  than  abundant  information. 
Not  every  mind  well  stored,  even,  is  scholarly.  Infor- 
mation is  good;  knowledge  is  better;  but  with  both 
there  must  go  along  the  student  habit  Scholarship 
of  any  degree  is  accompanied  by  a  more  or  less  fine 
taste  for  learning,  a  love  for  the  culture  that  has  lived. 
It  is  a  much  to  be  coveted  and  legitimate  object,  rather 
product,  of  education.  It  stands  for  abundant  life,  and 
habitual  touch  with  large  issues;  in  thinking,  a  famil- 
iar use  of  the  abiding  interests  of  the  race,  and  an 
ability  to  take  the  race's  point  of  view  in  dealing  with 
these  interests.  From  the  plain  of  the  schools,  large 
scholarship  implies  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
world's  achievements  in  thought  and  affairs;  in  art 
and  literature  and  philosophy;  in  government  and  in- 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     49 

vention;  in  the  conditions  and  stages  and  meanings  of 
social  progress.  One  would  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
scholarly,  in  any  high  degree,  who  knows  no  language 
but  his  own,  or  whose  acquaintance  with  social  and 
institutional  and  ethical  movements  and  forces  are 
limited  to  his  time  and  people. 

But  there  are  instances  of  men  highly  educated  who 
had  not  this  acquaintance  with  books  in  so  large  a  way, 
who  were  not  versed  in  the  world's  philosophies,  or  its 
art,  its  historic  religions,  the  stages  in  its  material 
progress,  or  in  other  than  the  vernacular  language. 
High  scholarship  greatly  re-enforces  an  education  other- 
wise attained,  but  it  is  not  an  exclusive  essential.  One 
need  not  doubt  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  highly  edu- 
cated, while  conceding  great  inequalities  and  inade- 
quacy of  scholarship.  Certain  of  the  "  Captains  of 
Industry,"  while  wanting  the  formal  learning  of  the 
schools,  are  yet  quite  equal  to  the  emergencies  of  an 
orderly  and  highly  developed  social  and  industrial  and 
political  and  even  cultural  life  by  which  they  are  sur- 
rounded and  of  which  they  are  organic  parts.  They 
are  men  of  public  spirit;  they  have  faith  in  schools 
and  learning.  Historically,  not  much  of  the  race's 
culture,  speaking  generally,  has  converged  upon  them 
individually,  but  they  see  its  results  in  society,  and 
take  account  of  these  results  in  their  lives,  and  formu- 
late and  administer  their  policies  regardful  of  this  body 
of  culture  as  a  world-force.  Their  own  lives  may  be 
rich  in  all  that  makes  life  worth  living — in  heart-cult- 
ure, faith  in  manliness  and  moral  heroism  and  human 


50  Science  of  Education 

achievement  and  the  sanities  of  right  living,  and  joy  in 
noble  deeds,  and  the  touch  of  the  beautiful  in  conduct 
and  art.  However  it  may  have  come  about,  they  are 
efficiently  educated,  though  in  possession  of  little  or 
nothing  of  the  formal  culture  of  the  schools.  Many  a 
man,  also,  occupying  a  subordinate  and  relatively  un- 
important industrial  or  social  position,  has  yet  acquired, 
and  exhibited  in  his  daily  life,  like  habits  of  thought- 
fulness,  soundness  of  judgment,  a  keen  foresight,  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  a  personal  following,  the  heart 
and  manners  of  the  "  gentleman  born,"  and  a  rich 
intellectual  and  spiritual  life,  with  so  little  schooling 
as  not  to  be  counted.  There  may  be  a  rich  and  effective 
individual  and  social  life  to  which  the  more  abundant 
scholarship  would  be  only  a  doubtful  supplement. 
\  What  is  known  in  both  current  thought  and  tradition 
as  the  "  discipline  of  the  mind  "  that  comes  from  an 
active  contact  with  the  centres  of  learning,  from  years 
of  study  in  libraries  and  lecture-rooms  and  laboratories, 
may  be  found  also,  and  not  infrequently,  among  those 
who  have  known  less;  who  have  not  had  or  used  the 
privileges  of  these  established  agencies  of  culture.  The 
disciplined  mind,  the  student  habit,  the  ability  to  bring 
to  bear  upon  new  problems  the  powers  and  experiences 
which  one  has,  to  attack  and  resolve  the  conditions  one 
meets,  is  doubtless,  and  often,  acquired  through  these 
formal  means;  but  that  the  like  effective  resourceful- 
ness, trained  grip  upon  one's  experience,  and  the  habit 
of  using  the  net  conclusions  of  science  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  one's  plans  may  be,  frequently  are,  accom- 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     51 

plished  through  effort  outside  the  schools,  can  scarcely 
be  doubted.  These  qualities,  in  some  degree,  are  essen- 
tial to  all  true  education,  but  in  no  exclusive  or  peculiar 
sense  belong  to  the  results  of  formal  learning.  This 
admission  in  no  way  detracts  from  the  credit  and  dig- 
nity of  the  schools,  but  implies  a  sound  recognition  of 
the  true  nature  of  education  as  generic — a  native  and 
constitutional  process,  for  whose  furthering  an  active 
contact  with  life  outside  the  school  may  contribute,  not 
less  than  the  learning  of  the  study.  The  essential  fact 
would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  this  achieving  and  matur- 
ing process,  rather  than  any  static  condition  of  scholar- 
ship or  discipline  or  skill  or  maturity.  [Education  is 
to  be  conceived  as  dynamic,  as  an  aggressive  becoming, 
not  as  any  kind  or  amount  of  trained  product.) 

A  similar  interpretation  attaches  to  what  is  known 
as  good  character  as  an  end  or  result  of  education.  It 
is  certainly  one  of  the  by-products  of  all  wholesome 
education.  However,  it  is  not  the  being  good,  but 
rather  the  growth  in  goodness,  that  constitutes  an  edu- 
cation ;  not  honesty,  but  increasing  honesty ;  not  truth- 
fulness, but  growing  truthfulness ;  continued  growth  in 
grace,  and  good  will,  and  serious  purpose,  and  clean 
intention,  and  unselfish  interests.  Good  character  is  a 
very  relative  term.  Nowhere  along  the  upward  way 
may  one  be  said  to  have  attained  the  "  good  character  " 
which  is  supposed  to  be  the  end  of  education,  and  which 
absolves  one  from  an  obligation  to  come  to  yet  higher 
levels.  Here,  as  in  the  intellectual  life,  any  stage  or 
degree  of  attainment  is  only  a  step  in  the  series  from 


52  Science  of  Education 

point  to  point  of  which  the  movement  is  an  educative 
process.  The  conception  of  the  German  philosopher 
seems  to  be  valid.  In  a  pedagogical,  not  less  than 
a  moral  sense,  das  ewige  besser  is  the  watchword 
of  the  teacher  for  the  child ;  not  the  good,  but  the  ever- 
lasting better;  not  a  trained  and  fixed,  but  an  improv- 
ing, sense  of  personal  responsibility  and  initiative ;  not 
life  on  high  planes,  but  on  successively  higher  planes, 
and  more  abundantly.  Dr.  Holmes,  in  his  Breakfast- 
table  series,  affirms  that  the  really  "  important  thing 
is  not  where  we  stand,  but  which  way  we  face,"  and 
it  might  have  been  added,  the  rate  at  which  we  are 
moving.  Speaking  in  terms  of  education,  all  points 
in  this  upward  and  forward  journey  are  equally  hon- 
orable as  such.  But  to  be  facing  up,  and  moving  for- 
ward, on  the  lower  levels,  is  both  more  honorable  and 
more  promising  than  any  high  attainment  that  merely 
holds  its  own  or  retrogrades.  The  only  really  essential 
factor  is  the  growth  that  from  any  lower  level  carries 
one  to  a  higher.  A  conception  of  personal  responsi- 
bility, where  before  was  indifference,  in  honesty  or 
truthfulness  or  selfishness  or  civic  relations,  or  the 
home  or  business  life,  or  personal  improvement,  is  a 
step  forward  and  means  growth,  and  is,  in  morals  also, 
of  the  essential  nature  of  education.  The  carriage- 
maker  who  protested  that  he  was  not  merely  making 
pretty  good  wagons,  and  insisted  that  every  day  he  was 
making  the  best  vehicle  he  knew  how,  was  on  the  way 
to  better  ones  for  the  future.  "  The  good,"  as  the 
eastern  proverb  phrases  it,  is,  if  one  be  content  with 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     53 

it,  "  an  enemy  of  the  best,"  which  should  follow. 
Pedagogically,  then,  the  one  important  thing  is  the 
process  of  growth,  not  the  having  achieved  and  hold- 
ing any  attainment  of  goodness  or  honorable  character 
or  chastened  life. 

Once  more,  education  is  not  only  a  process,  and  a 
mental  process,  but  is  a  rational  process;  i.e.,  one  that 
implies  intelligent  foresight,  the  power  to  imagine  dis- 
tant ends  to  be  attained,  and  the  use  of  suitable  means 
to  accomplish  these  ends;  the  forming  and  holding  of 
ideals  in  science  and  art  and  conduct;  the  power  of 
purposeful,  consecutive  thinking.  Along  with  these 
functions,  man  shares,  with  the  lower  animals,  others 
also  that  lend  themselves  to  the  taking  on  of  fixed  ways 
of  acting,  repeating  unthinkingly  the  original  act,  crys- 
tallizing in  set  ways  the  tendency  of  the  mind  to  act 
as  it  has  acted.  In  appealing  to  the  mind's  initiative, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  recognition  of  its  power, 
its  tendency,  to  think  the  experience  in  a  new  way,  as 
sustaining  manifold  relations  other  than  those  in  the 
original  act,  and  so  using  it  in  a  new  form,  perhaps 
with  new  meanings.  The  former  is  training;  the  lat- 
ter, education.  This  gives  resourcefulness  and  leads 
to  multiform  experience  and  growth ;  that,  to  uniform- 
ity of  action  and  a  fixed  order.  Both  are  subject  to 
fairly  well  understood  laws,  and,  under  the  appropriate 
stimulus,  the  resulting  actions  of  each  may,  in  a  meas- 
ure, be  predicted ;  the  specific  acts,  likely  to  result  from 
a  process  of  training,  with  great  certainty.  But  the 
one  equips  the  individual  for  following  a  familiar, 


54  Science  of  Education 

conventional,  and  prescribed  order;  the  other  for  in- 
telligently meeting  unfamiliar  conditions.  In  the  for- 
mer the  mind  reacts  upon  the  stimulus  as  it  has  acted ; 
in  the  latter,  there  is,  indirectly,  only  a  reference  to 
its  previous  procedure. 

Much  of  the  work  of  the  school  is  of  the  character 
of  training;  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  symbols  of 
experience,  acquaintance  with  conventional  forms  of 
social  and  business  intercourse,  language,  and  the 
bodily  movements,  etc.  There  is  no  occasion  to  belittle 
the  value  of  these  acquirements;  there  would  be  little 
education  without  this  function  of  the  mind.  But  this 
is  not  education.  It  is  a  tool,  a  means ;  but  not  a  force 
for  progress.  Its  primary  function  is  to  mechanize, 
to  enslave;  not  to  liberate.  Freedom  comes  through 
education;  all  advance  in  civilization  and  achievement. 
That  gives  skill  in  manufacture  and  administration, 
facility  and  grace  in  conduct  and  intercourse,  perfec- 
tion of  form  and  finish;  this  stimulates  reflection, 
ingenuity,  the  free  play  of  ideals  and  the  creative  fac- 
ulties. Training  looks  to  specific  ends;  education  to 
versatility.  Education  makes  men;  training,  work- 
men. The  steps  in  training  are  generally  simple  and 
easily  acquired;  those  of  education,  intricate  and  elu- 
sive. By  training,  men  become  experts  in  doing;  by 
education,  they  are  fitted  to  improve  the  doing.  Each 
is  the  complement  of  the  other.  A  high  state  of  either 
stimulates  to  a  development  of  the  other.  The  highest 
education  in  the  race  is  of  little  value  unless  there  be 
the  skill  to  apply  it  to  the  arts  and  purposes  of  life; 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education    55 

the  most  perfect  skill  is  lame  that  has  not  intelligent 
direction.  Education  is  the  rational  process  that  makes 
the  masterful  possession  of  all  needful  knowledge  and 
skill  certain. 

Again,  besides  being  a  rational  process,  education 
is  here  characterized  as  natural.  It  is  the  native 
process  of  maturing,  and  is  characteristic  of  the  mind, 
as  ripening  is  of  the  melon.  The  conditions  of  light, 
heat,  moisture,  a  fruitful  soil  and  good  seed,  are  not 
more  necessary  to  the  vegetable  than  are  right  environ- 
ments and  a  sound  mind  to  education.  But  education 
is  not  something  which  a  teacher  has  and  which  is 
turned  over  to  the  child;  it  is  not  somewhat  trans- 
ferred from  one  to  another;  it  cannot  be  bought,  or 
given,  or  bartered  for,  any  more  than  ripeness  is  fur- 
nished by  soil  and  climate.  Given  these  conditions, 
the  melon  takes  on  the  successive  steps  in  its  ripening; 
so,  in  using  its  environment,  the  individual  matures. 
In  the  lapse  of  years,  and  through  this  spiritual  touch 
with  a  stimulating  environment,  the  boy  becomes  a 
man,  the  girl  a  woman,  taking  on  adult  interests,  and 
new  standards  of  conduct,  and  foresight,  and  self- 
appointed  tasks,  and  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  a 
readier  adjustment  of  personal  behavior  to  the  insti- 
tutional and  conventional  life. 

So  inevitable  is  this  change  in  the  individual,  espe- 
cially in  the  midst  of  a  congregate  life,  that  one  would 
in  a  measure  pass  through  most  of  these  forms  of 
maturing  even  if  there  were  no  schools.  The  process, 
surely,  would  be  one  of  slow  evolution ;  the  individuals 


56  Science  of  Education 

fittest  for  this  group-life  surviving,  while  others  perish. 
It  is  obvious  that  this  must  have  been  the  character  of 
the  race's  development  for  many  centuries  before  the 
times  of  directed  education.  Under  this  unconscious 
tuition  some  learned  more,  and  some  less,  as  is  true 
to-day;  some  became  more  self -helpful  than  others, 
more  provident,  more  self-controlled,  better  informed, 
less  selfish,  more  skilful  and  ingenious,  more  spiritually 
minded — just  the  qualities  that  the  schools  to-day  seek 
to  encourage.  They  may  be  encouraged  because  they 
are  natural  products  of  a  maturing  race,  or  a  race  com- 
posed of  maturing  members.  The  process  by  which 
they  come  is  a  natural  process.  It  belongs  to  a  man 
because  he  is  a  man.  The  tendency,  whatever  its  origin, 
is  now  a  human  inheritance.  Three  things  the  schools 
may  do:  (1)  shorten  the  period  of  acquiring  the  need- 
ful experience  and  maturity  to  the  degree  of  reasonable 
self-helpfulness;  (2)  through  the  foresight  of  experi- 
enced persons  fix  the  growth  and  the  trend  of  experi- 
ence in  right,  wholesome  directions;  and  (3)  forestall 
the  inequalities  of  training  likely  to  come  to  one  in  the 
undirected  process  of  evolution.  But  the  most  sys- 
tematic guidance  can  only  follow  the  constitutional 
tendency,  re-enforcing,  guiding,  emphasizing  it;  en- 
riching the  years  of  youth  by  converging  upon  them 
manifold  opportunities;  and  substituting  the  tried  and 
abiding  ideals  of  the  race  for  the  transient  purposes 
and  interests  of  the  day.  Definitions  (8),  (36),  and 
(42),  on  preceding  pages,  emphasize  this  aspect  of 
the  problem. 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     57 

In  another,  and  very  important  sense,  the  process 
here  called  education  must  be  viewed  as  generic  rather 
than  as  the  development  of  any  specific  function  or 
any  number  of  functions.  It  does  not  mean,  e.g.,  the 
enlarging  and  enriching  of  the  memory  only,  or  sepa- 
rately, but  rather  the  maturing  of  the  system  of  which 
the  memory  is  an  organic  part;  not  the  judgment 
merely,  but  the  life  which  the  judgment  serves.  It 
does  not  mean  to  endow  with  a  particular  skill,  but, 
through  the  effort  to  master  some  form  of  doing,  to 
become  intelligent  in  undertaking  other  forms.  It 
does  mean  much  experience,  and  the  habit  of  using  it; 
the  refining  of  the  senses;  the  habit  of  being  inter- 
ested ;  much  practice  in  discriminating  the  important 
from  the  unimportant;  an  increase  in  personal  initia- 
tive. But  this  enriching  of  the  memory,  the  knitting 
of  the  judgment,  the  bias  towards  painstaking  doing, 
the  habit  of  being  interested,  and  of  using  the  experi- 
ence one  has,  the  training  of  the  senses,  the  power  to 
perceive  and  value  the  really  vital  factors  in  an  expe- 
rience, and  growth  in  personal  initiative,  may  all, 
severally  and  in  the  aggregate,  be  accomplished  through 
any  one  of  several  lines  of  training.  It  is  probably  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  discipline  in  no  one  field  of 
learning  or  group  of  subjects  is  necessary  to  maturing 
along  any  one  of  these  lines.  Without  doubt  some  sub- 
jects are  better  fitted  for  the  accomplishing  of  certain 
of  these  purposes  than  are  others,  just  as  certain  tools 
of  the  mechanic  are  selected  for  one  task,  and  others 
for  a  different  one.  And  each,  teacher  or  mechanic, 


58  Science  of  Education 

will,  if  wise,  use  the  best  tools  at  hand  for  the  purpose. 
But,  if  wise  again,  neither  will  forget  that  not  the 
tool,  but  the  result,  is  the  important  element.  A  China- 
man or  other  foreigner  may  know  nothing  of  the  things 
which  our  people  generally  know,  and  be  unable  to  do 
the  things  which  our  people  do,  and  yet  be  highly  edu- 
cated. In  the  ancient  days  there  were  men  and  women 
effectively  educated  and  equipped  to  handle  the  intri- 
cate problems  of  their  times,  of  government  and  relig- 
ion and  industry  and  war  and  diplomacy,  even  before 
the  times  of  the  so-called  classic  languages  of  the 
schools,  before  the  advent  of  western  civilization,  before 
the  beginnings  of  most  that  we  now  think  important  in 
literature,  and  government,  and  science,  and  industry. 
It  is  a  matter  of  history  that,  in  comparatively  modern 
times,  there  have  been,  high  in  the  counsels  of  the  State, 
and  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  school,  and  in  the  fields 
of  industry,  those  who  have  had  little  of  what  is  called 
scholarship,  but  who  have  been  abundantly  educated — 
educated  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  and  personal 
accomplishments.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  only  a  more 
notable  example  of  a  considerable  class.  All  of  which 
means  only,  and  is  intended  to  mean,  not  that  the  learn- 
ing of  the  schools  is  not  valid,  or  that  it  fails  to  justify 
itself,  but  that  it  is  of  the  nature  of  education  as  such 
to  compass  originative  thinking,  alertness  of  mind, 
provident  habits,  the  co-operative  temper,  and  devotion 
to  ideals.  Whatever  the  manner  of  acquisition,  he  who 
has  these  qualities  and  their  kin  is  fairly  educated, 
whatever  he  knows  or  doesn't  know.  In  the  nature  of 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education    59 

the  mind,  its  acts  are  specific  and  limited ;  but  in  pur- 
poses and  effects,  the  results  that  are  valuable  as  edu- 
cation are  generic  and  comprehensive.  It  is  thus  set 
off,  on  the  one  side,  from  training,  as  has  been  men- 
tioned, which  looks  to  some  particular  skill;  and  from 
mere  scholarship,  on  the  other,  which  exalts  accumula- 
tion and  possession.  Both  the  skill  and  the  scholarship 
are  immensely  valuable  as  products ;  but  they  are,  taken 
separately,  but  partial  and  unsatisfactory.  Together, 
and  reinforced  by  an  unspoiled  disposition  to  improve 
both,  that  the  skill  may  be  something  more  than  dex- 
terity or  adroitness,  and  the  scholarship  more  than 
possession,  they  become  unfailing  accompaniments  of 
the  best  or  the  least  that  deserves  the  name  of  ednca- 
tion.  The  artificer  becomes  more  than  a  mechanic ;  the 
thinker,  more  than  a  copyist;  the  teacher,  more  than 
a  routine  follower.  The  attainment  of  the  higher 
levels  implies  resourcefulness  beyond  what  has  been 
learned ;  the  capacity  for  original  vision  and  initiative, 
and  the  courage  to  believe  in  them. 


CHAPTER  V 

TENTATIVE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  EDUCA- 
TION   (continued) 

As  a  corollary  of  much  of  what  has  been  set  down 
in  preceding  pages  it  follows  that,  far  from  being  con- 
fined to  the  periods  of  childhood  and  youth,  education 
is  a  lifelong  process.  Obviously,  there  are  in  each  One's 
life  times  of  more  and  of  less  active  development. 
This  is  true  of  the  years  before  twenty  in  most  indi- 
viduals. But  growth  at  no  period  entirely  ceases,  and 
the  mind  is  ever  curious  and  interested.  There  are 
instances,  not  a  few,  of  marked  and  effective  increase 
of  most  mental  and  spiritual  powers,  increase  of  re- 
sourcefulness, and  business  and  cultural  and  moral 
adaptations,  into  and  through  middle  life.  The  mani- 
fold agencies  which  society  has  devised  for  its  improve- 
ment, not  less  than  its  pleasure,  are  evidence  of  a  public 
recognition  of  this  native  tendency  toward  a  continu- 
ance of  certain  kinds  of  growth  through  life. 

Without  attempting  to  make  the  list  complete,  there 
may  be  named  these  non-school  agencies  of  adult  educa- 
tion: the  various  forms  of  school  extension;  vacation 
and  evening  schools ;  organized  home  readings ;  the  more 
than  one  hundred  Chautauquas  with  their  schools  and 

60 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     61 

assemblies  and  circles  and  clubs;  the  lyceum  under 
various  names;  correspondence  schools,  enrolling  half 
a  million  students;  university,  college,  and  school  ex- 
tension lecture  courses;  the  institutional  church,  with 
its  academic  and  professional  classes,  gymnasia,  and 
societies;  the  hundreds  of  public  lectures  and  lecture 
courses  in  cities  and  villages,  and  even  rural  sections; 
the  free  public  lectures  maintained  by  certain  city 
boards  of  education ;  the  different  public  reference  and 
circulating  libraries,  with  their  numerous  branch  col- 
lections, reading-rooms,  study-clubs,  and  reference- 
lists;  the  thousands  of  private  reading  groups;  socie- 
ties, scientific,  historical,  philosophical,  art,  and  liter- 
ary, national,  State,  and  local,  of  men  and  women ;  the 
millions  of  newspaper  and  magazine  issues,  with  their 
volume  and  variety  of  matter ;  the  tons  of  Government 
publications  upon  matters  of  great  historical,  scientific, 
civic,  and  industrial  interest;  the  numerous  fraternal, 
professional,  and  social  organizations,  many  of  which 
furnish  both  entertainment  and  instruction  in  impor- 
tant ways;  international,  national,  State,  and  local 
expositions,  exhibitions,  and  fairs,  for  the  showing  and 
comparison  of  the  products  of  human  handiwork  and 
achievement;  the  wealth  of  literature  bearing  upon 
hygiene  and  sanitation;  the  several  guilds,  industrial 
societies,  and  labor  organizations,  of  recent  rapid  de- 
velopment and  distinct  and  far-reaching  influence;  the 
systematic  and  incidental  encouragement  given  to 
travel;  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Associations;  and,  finally,  the  numerous  municipal 


62  Science  of  Education 

and  civic  organizations,  including  commercial  and  busi- 
ness clubs,  civic  leagues  in  the  cities,  neighborhood 
improvement  societies,  national  and  local  tree-planting 
and  irrigation  and  public-park  movements,  art  and 
landscape  decoration  societies,  pioneer  historical  and 
patriotic  societies,  and  the  public  and  permanent  com- 
memoration of  historical  places  and  personages,  general 
and  local  public  education  societies,  and  the  official 
reports  and  manuals  of  the  respective  State  and  local 
governments. 

The  number  of  adult  individuals  in  any  common- 
wealth not  reached  by  one  or  another  or  several  of 
these  forms  of  social  effort  is  very  small.  In  the 
aggregate  the  influence  is  large  and  rapidly  extending. 
No  man  can  come  into  frequent  contact  with  his  fel- 
lows in  these  organized  ways,  hear  their  words,  and 
read  their  voluminous  literature,  and  share  their  opin- 
ions and  interests,  and  fail  to  be  vitally  influenced  in 
his  thinking,  his  belief,  his  conduct,  and  his  efficiency. 
In  our  own  country,  of  more  than  ordinarily  free 
speech  and  the  ready  interchange  of  ideas  among  all 
classes,  the  universal  reading  habit  and  the  opportunity 
afforded  for  class  and  group  organization,  these  agencies 
become  important  factors  in  the  aggregate  training  of 
citizenship.  From  birth  to  death  no  one  is  long  free 
from  their  touch.  The  qualities  that  make  for  man- 
hood, and  civic  efficiency,  and  the  refinements  of  cult- 
ure, and  the  attainment  of  industrial  and  professional 
skill,  and  ready  and  intelligent  social  co-operation,  are 
stimulated  and  encouraged  at  every  turn.  Of  all  the 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     63 

millions  of  our  adult  population  almost  no  one  escapes 
altogether  the  aggressive  moulding  influence  of  these 
agencies.  They  are  ever  present.  The  touch  of  the 
schools  is  for  a  small  part  only  of  one's  life.  Through 
the  manifold  organizations  which  society  has  worked 
out,  learning  and  the  student  habit  and  the  maturing 
of  powers,  and  the  refinement  of  tastes  and  the  multi- 
plication of  interests,  and  growth  in  co-operation  and 
the  sharing  of  attainments,  go  on  through  most  adult 
years  of  both  manhood  and  womanhood.  Much  of  all 
this  is  mere  training,  a  fixing  of  habits,  and  sobering 
of  life,  and  tempering  of  the  passions,  and  checking  of 
enthusiasms;  but  much  of  it,  also,  is  of  the  nature  of 
real  education — the  enlarging  of  powers,  adding  to 
one's  fruitful  experience,  the  accumulation  of  interests, 
an  increasing  sense  of  personal  and  social  responsibil- 
ity, devotion  to  the  common  welfare,  contributions  to 
the  general  intelligence,  and  an  appreciation  of  per- 
sonal skill  and  effectiveness.  All  this  implies  not  alone 
the  possibility  of  education  being  furthered  during  the 
manhood  period,  but  a  positive  and  aggressive  natural 
tendency  to  growth  and  increasing  maturity  during 
these  years.  Education  is  a  life-long  process. 

\In  a  very  pronounced  and  intelligible  way,  educa- 
tion is,  further,  a  process  that  looks  toward  the  inte- 
gration of  experience;  i.e.,  the  organizing  of  one's 
experiences  into  a  body  of  experience.  Child  interests 
are  more  or  less  scrappy;  often  intense,  but  usually 
disconnected.  Few  kinships  are  recognized  among 
them  as  strong  enough  regularly  to  endow  them  with 


64  Science  of  Education 

common  meaning.  Thought  and  purpose  easily  pass 
from  one  to  another.  Each  follows  in  its  order  as  part 
of  an  occasioned  sequence,  rather  than  as  a  purposed 
association.  The  mind  is  filled  with  experiences  that 
seem  to  have  no  established  coalescence  or  subordina- 
tion. Their  grouping  upon  occasion  is  by  chance,  and 
transient.  Their  inherent  connections  are  not  appar- 
ent. From  one  to  another  of  them  the  child  passes, 
not  at  will,  but  spontaneously.  There  is  much  remem- 
brance, but  little  recollection.  Likes  and  dislikes,  smiles 
and  tears,  interest  and  indifference,  good  and  ill  tem- 
per, follow  each  other  and  are  intermingled,  without 
let  or  hindrance,  and  with  no  consciousness  of  incon- 
gruity. This  is  the  period  of  curiosity,  and  manifold 
interests,  and  the  storing  of  the  mind;  information 
accumulates,  growth  is  extensive.  The  horizon  is  being 
pushed  out,  and  new  fields  attract,  while  yet  the  old 
has  had  only  surface  cultivation.  Experiences  are  in 
flux;  the  mind  is  unstable,  but  groping,  aggressive,  in- 
quiring, versatile.  In  its  turn,  everything  pleases  or 
displeases.  Interests  multiply,  and  sometimes  coin- 
cide; again  they  conflict.  They  begin,  in  a  rude  way, 
to  order  themselves  according  to  their  common  mean- 
ings. Certain  simple  biases  have  taken  root  in  groups 
of  these  kindred  experiences.  The  child's  likings  are 
strengthened,  held  together,  and,  in  a  measure,  justified 
by  a  series  of  kindred  experiences,  which  in  time  he 
comes  to  recognize  as  a  series  and  as  kindred.  The 
same  changes  may  be  affirmed  of  his  dislikes.  The 
child  begins  more  definitely  also  to  think  in  lines,  with 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     65 

steps  having  reasonable  sequence.  His  reflection  may 
not  be  conscious,  or  be  so  in  a  small  degree  only;  but 
the  parts  are  ordered  after  a  law  of  some  unity.  Many 
experiences  are  reflected  in  this  one.  His  separate 
thoughts,  and  purposes,  and  interests,  and  his  personal 
touch  with  his  fellows,  and  his  acquaintance  with 
things,  and  his  insight  into  their  meanings,  come  to 
stand  each  as  the  representative  of  a  class,  and  to  sug- 
gest the  class  in  his  thinking,  and  to  suggest  and  call 
up  other  co-ordinate  experiences  of  the  same  class ;  they 
are  taking  on  the  characteristics  of  a  mass  or  organized 
body  of  experience,  having  an  inner  unity,  and  are  be- 
ginning to  be  significant  in  the  aggregate  not  less  than 
in  the  individual  parts. 

This  movement  is  incident  to  a  native  tendency 
of  the  mind  toward  integration  of  its  interests.  Edu- 
cation as  a  natural  process  of  maturing  implies  this 
knitting  together  of  thought,  feeling,  and  purpose,  and 
of  distinct  but  kindred  thoughts,  feelings,  and  pur- 
poses. It  need  not  be  argued  that  this  tendency 
furnishes  the  ground  for  such  systematic  effort  as 
the  schools  may  make,  to  co-ordinate  or  further  the 
co-ordination  of  the  mind's  functioning.  Far-seeing 
instruction  multiplies  occasions  for  the  easy  asso- 
ciation of  its  experiences;  by  suggestion  and  environ- 
ment puts  the  mind  in  the  way  of  establishing 
legitimate  relations,  and  re-enforces  the  native  ten- 
dency toward  integration.  This  is  the  solidarity  of 
mind  that  is  the  essence  of  character.  One  in  whom 
this  quality  is  wanting,  or  is  possessed  in  a  small  de- 


66  Science  of  Education 

gree  only,  is  described  fitly  as  a  characterless  person, 
vapid  and  sterile,  invertebrate.  He  lacks  constancy 
of  purpose,  consistency  of  judgment,  the  courage  that 
gives  persistence  to  his  enterprises,  the  fibre  that  con- 
firms either  loyalty  or  devotion.  In  the  normal  mind 
there  seems  to  be  a  constitutional  tendency  among  the 
experiences  held  in  solution  to  organize  them  into  an 
effective  body  of  experience,  having  its  own  unity  and 
standing  for  singleness  of  mind.  The  mind  as  a  whole, 
the  life  as  a  whole,  comes  to  have  a  significance  of  its 
own.  Its  several  functions  act  as  one,  each  supporting 
and  reinforcing  every  other.  The  tendency  of  the  nor- 
mal mind  is  toward  such  integration.  No  teaching  can 
be  bad  that  is  really  guided  by  this  principle,  and  none 
can  have  much  virtue  that  ignores  it.  The  mind  is 
able  to  do  great  things  for  itself  if  it  be  given  a  suffi- 
ciency of  opportunities  for  its  exercise.  This  providing 
of  right  occasions  and  the  guiding  of  activities  are  in 
the  interest  of  a  well-defined  native  tendency  toward 
integral  functions,  as  described. 

In  its  narrow  and  literal  meaning  education  is,  of 
course,  an  individual  process — a  process  of  growth  in 
the  individual  mind.  One  person  may  be  stimulated, 
inspired,  strengthened,  discouraged,  hindered,  or  other- 
wise influenced  by  others;  but  the  changes — physical 
and  spiritual — called  maturing,  are  his  alone.  The 
exercises,  as  a  result  or  accompaniment  of  which  this 
maturing  comes,  are  his.  The  effects  are  personal. 
The  increasing  capacity  is  personal.  The  finer  mental 
acumen  is  a  personal  possession  j  so  of  the  chastening 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education    67 

moral  sense,  the  sustained  effort,  the  safer  judgment, 
the  surer  hold  on  experience,  the  growth  in  tenderness, 
the  increasing  respect  for  the  right — all  are  private  in 
their  development,  while  having  public  or  social  rela- 
tions. The  changed  standards  of  conduct,  and  one's 
ideals  of  manhood  and  culture  and  efficiency,  however 
inspired,  are  individual  acquirements.  The  possessions 
of  the  enlarging  mind  may  be  shared  with  others,  but 
not  the  growth.  The  act  of  remembering,  or  recollect- 
ing, or  forming  conclusions,  or  fearing,  or  loving,  or 
worshipping,  or  striving  after  ideals,  or  increasing  ex- 
perience, is  an  inner  and  private  accomplishment.  No 
one  can  forego  this  responsibility,  this  privilege,  how- 
ever much  he  may  wish  to  do  so.  These  movements  are 
the  essence  of  education.  They  stand  for  individual 
reactions  and  represent  individual  effort. 

The  pedagogical  implications  are  not  far  to  seek. 
Teaching  becomes  a  stimulus  to  the  pupil's  self-activity. 
No  one  can  live  another's  mental  life  in  such  way  as  to 
free  him  from  any  obligation  of  his  own  being.  That 
strength  only  is  his  which  he  achieves.  Telling  is  not 
teaching,  though  it  is  one  of  its  incidents.  The  one 
determining  condition  of  all  learning,  of  all  education, 
is  the  exercise  of  self-effort.  Education  is  an  indi- 
vidual process  in  both  the  act  and  the  motive.  It  is 
individual  also  in  its  primary  results.  The  secondary 
consequences  may,  and  often  do,  compass  the  group  and 
institutional  life  about  one,  but  the  immediate  changes 
are  personal. 

It  has  been  noticed  elsewhere  that  this  process  of 


68  Science  of  Education 

maturing  in  the  individual,  which  is  called  education, 
has  its  counterpart  in  civilization — the  approach  to 
adult  life  in  the  race.  But  in  other  ways,  also,  educa- 
tion has  its  group  meanings — it  is  a  well-defined  proc- 
ess of  socializing  the  individual  In  most  human  acts, 
from  the  simple  patriarchal  and  tribal  relations  of 
primitive  man  to  the  complex  life  of  to-day,  reference 
is  had  to  the  fact  that  each  is  one  of  many,  and,  in  his 
living,  of  necessity  takes  the  many  into  account.  Few 
of  his  experiences  concern  himself  alone;  from  morn- 
ing till  night  most  of  them  have  to  do  with  his  relations 
to  his  fellows — the  social  conventions,  business  inter- 
ests in  which  others  are  involved,  current  news  and 
public  affairs,  more  or  less  detailed  aspects  of  his  mem- 
bership in  one  or  another  of  the  great  social  institutions 
(the  church,  the  state,  the  school,  the  family,  conven- 
tional society,  and  the  industrial  body)  and  the  mani- 
fold personal  relations  which,  he  sustains  toward  his 
fellows.  As  a  particular  being  each  has  by  birth  a 
certain  individuality,  the  more  important  characteris- 
tics of  which  he  holds  in  common  with  others;  but  he 
becomes  a  person  only  through  association  with  them 
and  by  many  mutual  adjustments.  By  virtue  of  his 
individual  nature  he  claims  and  covets  certain  privi- 
leges and  rights  as  his  due.  He  resents  interference 
and  obstruction  to  his  will.  He  soon  learns  that  such 
personal  interference  implies  other  individuals  claim- 
ing like  rights  and  privileges  upon  exactly  the  same 
grounds.  Each  is  a  check  upon  every  other  whom  he 
meets,  and  concessions  are  made — mutual  concessions. 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     69 

In  time  the  sense  of  responsibility  is  stimulated,  and 
it  is  discovered  that  for  every  privilege  there  is  a  cor- 
responding obligation.  Each  is  no  longer  an  individ- 
ual, but  a  member  of  a  group.  In  his  daily  behavior 
he  begins  to  take  others  into  account.  When,  in  the 
daily  round  of  his  life,  he  does  this  habitually  he  has 
become  a  growing  personality.  Along  with  more  or 
less  of  protest  and  mental  reserve,  and  sometimes  re- 
bellion, there  goes  an  increasing  degree  of  co-operation. 
There  are  frequent  concessions  and  sacrifices,  and  re- 
sulting conventions  that  come,  in  time,  to  regulate 
behavior,  and  become  the  codes  of  social  and  business 
and  professional  intercourse.  This  socializing  process, 
the  achieving  of  personality,  is  a  spiritual  movement 
in  the  individual  that  is  distinctively  educational. 

To  one  looking  back  upon  the  process,  then,  educa- 
tion is  seen  to  mean  more  than  development  and  the 
acquiring  of  personal  possessions  and  traits;  it  means 
also  social  adjustments,  and  the  acceptance  of  com- 
munity standards  of  personal  behavior,  and  the  subor- 
dination of  private  whims  and  caprices,  and  a  fitting 
for  the  concerted  action  of  many,  whereby  each  profits. 
The  efficiency  of  the  individual  is  reflected  in  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  group.  Each  finds  its  limitations  not  less 
than  its  stimulations  in  the  other.  This  effort  of  the 
individual  to  fit  both  its  doing  and  its  thinking  to  an 
objective  but  kindred  existence  constitutes  a  large  and 
important  factor  in  each  one's  education.  It  involves 
a  form  of  concerted  action  in  which  there  must  be 
constant  reference  to  a  power  not  itself,  by  conformity 


70  Science  of  Education 

to  which  or  reaction  against  which  it  is  itself  modified. 
What  one  can  or  cannot  achieve,  what  one  may  or  may 
not  do,  will  be  largely  determined  by  this  social  environ- 
ment, this  aggregate  of  similar  but  often  interfering 
forces  and  interests.  It  has  been  said  that  "  no  one  is 
quite  so  bad  when  he  is  alone  as  with  others,  and  no 
one  is  quite  so  good  when  alone  as  with  others."  So 
alertness  and  mental  acumen  are  often  stimulated  or 
repressed,  according  to  the  force  and  enthusiasm  of 
one's  companions.  The  movement  toward  maturity, 
which  is  the  primary  educational  process,  is  not  only, 
upon  the  whole,  forward  and  upward  in  the  form  of 
the  development  of  native  capacities,  but  outward  in 
breadth  to  compass  these  manifold  personal  and  group 
reactions.  Converging  in  the  individual  are  these 
social  tendencies  that  demand  cultivation.  No  system 
or  method  of  schooling  is  complete  that  omits  a  recog- 
nition of  them  or  their  training. 

In  another  and  important  sense  education  reveals 
the  group  bias,  in  that  it  tends,  when  not  interfered 
with,  to  conserve  the  species;  this,  in  general  recogni- 
tion of  the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The 
training  that,  for  any  reason,  is  inapt  or  querulous, 
that  violates  the  natural  law  of  development,  or  ob- 
structs the  co-operation  'of  individuals  through  profit- 
able adjustments,  defeats  its  own  purposes.  The  edu- 
cation that  is  unserviceable  to  the  race  bears  the  seed  of 
its  own  destruction.  The  highest  good  of  the  indi- 
vidual must  conform  to  the  highest  good  of  the  race. 
What  tends  to  destroy  the  one  tends  to  destroy  the 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education    71 

other.  In  each  one  converge  various  and  often  antago- 
nistic race  tendencies.  Looked  at  through  long  periods 
and  in  the  aggregate  their  development  is  favorable  to 
the  preservation  of  the  species.  In  the  process  many 
individuals  go  down.  But  in  general  education  is  race 
progress,  not  less  than  growth  in  social  stability  and 
amelioration,  and  in  individual  maturity,  and  fulness 
of  life.  It  looks  to  furthering  wholesome  race  condi- 
tions. Education,  in  this  aspect,  is  coextensive  with 
the  race  in  its  struggles  toward  and  progress  in  civili- 
zation. It  is  broader  than  history  and  older  than  his- 
toric records.  It  compasses  manifold  movements  that 
have  not  taken  organic  form  in  any  of  the  great  social 
institutions,  and  hence  are  not  historical;  and,  being 
coextensive  with  the  race,  must  be  many  thousands  of 
years  older  than  the  oldest  records  of  history.  In 
anthropology  and  ethnology  and  the  contributing  sci- 
ences, and  the  studies  of  antiquities  generally,  much 
assistance  may  be  had  in  the  study  of  primitive  stages 
of  the  race  development.  And  it  is  not  difficult  to 
discover  that  certain  important  and  abiding  forms  of 
these  race  groupings  are  represented  in  the  more  highly 
developed  individuals  and  the  forces  of  social  activity 
of  the  present  day.  In  the  conservation  and  evolution 
of  the  species  the  essential  fact  would  seem  to  be  the 
effort  to  use  its  experiences  and  in  reacting  upon  its 
environment  This  again  becomes  identical  with  the 
factors  that  make  for  education  in  the  individual  and 
for  adjustments  in  society.  It  has  this  objective  refer- 
ence, but  is  an  inner  process  of  growth. 


72  Science  of  Education 

Again,  education  is  a  process  of  emancipation;  a 
freeing  of  the  spirit  from  the  dominance  of  the  body. 
In  the  child,  life  is  predominantly  sensuous.  The  spe- 
cial senses  and  the  general  bodily  functions  control 
experience.  The  environment  is  obtrusive  and  insist- 
ent. Having  little  experience,  the  control  of  his  actions 
is  chiefly  from  without,  or  stimulated  from  without. 
His  activity  is  unremitting,  not  because  he  chooses,  but 
because  he  must.  His  inheritance  is  facile  and  in- 
sinuating. He  cannot  do  but  obey.  The  world  is 
strange  and,  to  his  untaught  judgment,  often  defiant 
His  adjustments  in  conduct  and  achievements  are  often 
occasioned,  or,  at  least,  happy  coincidences.  It  is  a 
process  in  the  main,  perhaps,  of  being  conformed, 
rather  than  conforming.  But  in  time,  as  a  result  of 
many  constrained  imitations,  and  provoked  interests, 
and  impeded  and  only  partially  successful  efforts  at 
control,  the  child  acquires  a  simple  initiative,  both  in 
motive  and  behavior.  Creative  energy  is  yet  weak, 
but  it  is  incipient.  He  is  learning  mastery,  and  is 
able  to  choose  his  reactions.  Experience  is  no  less 
sensuous,  but  is  less  arbitrary.  He  finds  his  own  spirit 
reproduced  in  the  world  of  thing  and  person  about  him, 
and  identifies  and  interprets  the  marks  of  kinship.  In 
many  and  gratifying  ways  he  finds  himself  able  to  use 
his  senses,  and  is  no  longer  imperiously  used  by  them. 
The  field  of  choice  is  enlarging,  and  the  power  and 
disposition  to  exercise  it.  He  is  earning  his  emancipa- 
tion. On  this  side  of  the  process  education  is  an 
emancipation  of  the  mind  from  fear  of  or  dependence 


Tentative  Characteristics  of  Education     73 

upon  the  environment  and  a  growing  sense  of  original 
reaction  and  voluntary  effort. 

In  the  preceding  statement  the  purpose  has  been 
consistently  kept  in  mind  to  avoid  definition  and  crit- 
ical analysis,  and  to  present  descriptively  and  tenta- 
tively the  more  obvious  characteristics  only  of  educa- 
tion as  they  appear  from  different  points  of  view :  that 
it  is,  primarily,  a  fact  of  the  mind ;  that  it  is  a  process 
rather  than  a  product;  that  it  is  a  natural  and  life-long 
process,  not  something  imposed  upon  the  individual 
from  without;  that  it  is  a  rational  process,  and  is  so 
distinguished  from  training;  that  it  tends  toward  the 
integration  of  experiences  into  a  body  of  experience; 
that  it  is  an  individual  process,  with  numerous  group 
and  race  reactions;  and  that  it  is  a  growth  toward 
spiritual  freedom  and  an  emancipation  from  the  domi- 
nance of  the  merely  sensuous  and  external 

Education  as  an  individual  maturing  includes  psy- 
chology in  its  various  forms,  and,  under  the  guise  of 
schooling,  implies  teaching;  as  concerned  with  group 
life,  it  comprises  social  relations,  ethics,  and  reforms; 
as  a  product,  it  suggests  knowledge,  skill,  discipline, 
character,  and  alertness ;  from  the  point  of  view  of  its 
instruments,  there  are  implied  schools,  teachers,  and 
equipments ;  as  a  process,  it  appears  in  all  human  func- 
tioning— as  development,  adjustment,  maturing,  civil- 
ization. Throughout  the  following  text  it  is  considered 
primarily  in  this  last  sense;  i.e.,  as  a  process. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  SUBJECT  OF  EDUCATION 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  a  descriptive  view  only  has 
been  taken  of  the  educational  process.  It  is  believed 
that  the  more  important  characteristics  have  been  pre- 
sented. These  chapters  have  meant  to  show,  simply, 
how  education  appears  from  different  points  of  view, 
and,  by  rough  and  approximate  comparisons,  how  it 
stands  related  to  kindred  processes  and  certain  legiti- 
mate results  and  instruments:  to  training;  to  teaching 
and  the  teacher;  to  the  learner  and  to  learning;  to  the 
child  and  the  adult ;  to  scholarship,  skill,  discipline,  cult- 
ure, character;  to  school  and  the  formal  instruments  of 
instruction,  and  to  the  non-school  agencies;  in  the  indi- 
vidual and  in  the  race;  in  its  social  or  group  forms  and 
meanings;  to  physical  and  sense  culture;  and  to  the 
processes  of  civilization.  The  discussion  follows  the 
order  of  all  human  experience.  First  views  are  general, 
more  or  less  partial,  descriptive,  sometimes  scrappy; 
analytic,  becoming  more  critical  with  added  experience ; 
cumulative,  each  larger  view  revising  former  judg- 
ments; and  so  fixing  acquaintance  with  the  material 
that  is  to  be  studied,  and  given  an  organic  setting,  by 
subsequent  scientific  statements. 

The  closing  paragraphs  of  the  last  chapter  give  a 

74 


The  Subject  of  Education  75 

summary  of  these  descriptive  characterizations  of  the 
educational  process.  It  is  believed  that  no  one  of  the 
features  there  summarized  may  properly  be  left  out  of 
the  final  count.  Looking  to  the  formulation  of  a  body 
of  educational  doctrine,  there  remains  their  right  order- 
ing in  a  series  of  consistent  statements,  that  shall  have 
their  own  organic  unity,  each  fairly  exclusive  of  the 
others,  and  all  taken  together,  being  inclusive  of  every 
essential  characteristic  in  the  general  notion.  These 
constitute  the  fundamental  categories  in  the  notion  of 
education. 

Among  teachers  generally,  whether  of  the  element- 
ary or  the  higher  schools,  and  by  many  thoughtful 
laymen,  there  are  held  more  or  less  scattering  convic- 
tions as  to  aims  and  methods  and  working  principles, 
many  of  which  are  full  of  helpful  meaning,  and  some 
of  which  are  vital;  but  which  have  not,  by  most 
teachers,  certainly  not  by  the  body  of  teachers,  taken 
on  any  consistent  organic  form  so  as  to  constitute  a  body 
of  doctrine.  To  say,  e.g.,  that,  in  its  learning,  the  mind 
passes  from  some  familiar  experience  to  a  nearly 
related  unfamiliar  or  unknown,  means  little,  unless  its 
relation  to  certain  other  principles  is  understood  and 
their  meaning  has  been  taken,  in  terms  of  the  generic 
process  called  growth.  The  best  teacher's  following 
of  a  detached  principle  of  procedure  may  degenerate 
into  a  rule-of-thumb  method,  and  become  viciously  me- 
chanical. "  The  concrete  before  the  abstract,"  "  things 
before  words,"  "  never  tell  a  child  what  he  can  find  out 
for  himself,"  "  interest  is  the  basis  of  all  learning," 


76  Science  of  Education 

"  the  head,  the  heart  and  the  hand  must  work  together," 
"  a  few  things  at  a  time  and  those  well  learned,"  "  the 
simple  before  the  complex,"  "  the  near  before  the  dis- 
tant," "  description  before  definition,"  an  emphasis  of 
the  child's  initiative  as  against  following  authority,  the 
educational  value  of  a  sense  of  personal  responsibility, 
and  "  childhood  is  the  time  for  acquisition  " ;  may  all, 
if  taken  out  of  their  right  perspective,  deteriorate  into 
mere  devices  for  more  effectually  foisting  a  wrong 
habit  or  fixing  a  narrowing  bias.  What  constitutes 
"  personal  initiative  "  and  a  sense  of  responsibility  and 
child  resourcefulness;  and  what  experiences  are  simple 
or  concrete;  and  how  the  head,  the  heart  and  the  hand 
are  to  work  together,  may,  and  often  do  receive,  but 
wooden  interpretation.  And  they  are  all  the  more 
likely  to  receive  such  interpretation,  if  there  be  want- 
ing a  sound  notion  of  what  education  is  in  its  nature 
and  conditions. 

The  present  chapter,  then,  is  given  to  a  statement  of 
what  are  here  considered  the  four  fundamentals  in  the 
notion  of  education  as  characterized  in  preceding  pages, 
and  to  a  discussion  of  the  first  one. 

That  is,  from  these  studies,  it  may  fairly  be  inferred 
that: 

1.  Education  presupposes  a  free,  rational,  intelligent, 
self-conscious,  self-determining  being  as  its  only  sub- 
ject. 

2.  Education   presupposes   an   equally   rational   (ra- 
tionally made)  external  world  of  happening  as  its  only 
instrument. 


The  Subject  of  Education  77 

3.  Education  presupposes  an  internal  free  impulse 
toward    development    through    using    this    intelligent 
world,  as  its  only  motive. 

4.  Education  presupposes  time  and  the  accompanying 
opportunities  for  this  development  as  its  only  condition. 

These  statements  have  been  given  as  fairly  express- 
ing the  four  fundamentals  in  the  notion  of  education: 
(1)  the  subject,  (2)  the  means,  (3)  the  motives,  and  (4) 
the  conditions.  They  are  all  presuppositions,  and  are 
submitted  as  inclusive  of  all  necessary  factors.  A  con- 
sideration of  them  separately  may  make  their  several 
meanings  and  implications  clearer. 

1.  Education  presupposes  a  free,  rational,  intelli- 
gent, self-conscious,  self-determining  being  as  its  only 
subject. 

As  the  term  is  here  used,  the  subject  of  education  is 
the  being  in  whom  the  process  takes  place.  It  is 
affirmed  that  the  process  called  and  elsewhere  described 
as  education  cannot  take  place  in  any  other  subject; 
that  any  being  is  educable  to  the  degree  only  that  it 
possesses  these  and  kindred  characteristics;  while  carry- 
ing somewhat  different  shades  of  meaning,  the  terms 
used  all  name  qualities  of  mind  that  are  popularly  as 
well  as  critically  affirmed  of  normal  man.  Though 
surrounded  by  an  aggressive  world  of  forces  and  hap- 
penings, man,  within  the  limits  of  his  conditions,  is 
free  in  thought  and  purpose  and  personal  choice.  How- 
ever he  may  share  the  quality,  he  also  possesses  intelli- 
gence, the  power  to  know,  and  to  reflect  upon  and  inter- 
pret what  he  knows,  making  his  own  thinking  the  con- 


78  Science  of  Education 

scious  object  of  his  attention.  He  possesses,  further,  tho 
power  of  initiative  in  mind,  using  the  happenings  of  the 
world  and  of  other  minds  as  the  raw  material  of  his 
experience,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  self- 
initiated  purpose.  To  the  degree  that  his  doing  depends 
upon  reason  rather  than  upon  instinct;  that  he  has  fore- 
sight and  the  power  and  habit  of  selecting  and  adjust- 
ing suitable  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  pur- 
pose; that  he  is,  through  a  regulative  imagination,  able 
to  conceive  and  construct  for  himself  ideals  of  achieve- 
ment and  conduct  and  beauty  and  truth;  and  that  he  is 
able  to  clothe  his  foresight  and  reasoning  and  ideals  in 
an  intelligible  symbolism  of  language,  man  is  called  a 
rational  being. 

Without  essaying  a  critical  consideration  of  these 
qualities,  and  not  attempting  an  inventory  of  other  im- 
portant spiritual  characteristics,  or  distinguishing  be- 
tween brute  and  human  intelligence,  let  it  be  sufficient 
to  say  that  any  creature  that  reveals  these  traits  may 
be  educated,  as  education  has  been  here  characterized. 
Man  may  be  educated  because  he  has  these  qualities. 
But  in  a  statement  of  the  first  fundamental  it  is  asserted 
that  only  such  creature  may  be  educated.  It  need  not 
be  argued  that  the  author  is  not  ignorant  of  the  claims 
made  for  animal  intelligence,  animal  reasoning,  the 
emotions  and  sentiments  and  sense  of  right  and  beauty 
in  the  animal  world.  All  that  may  safely  and  fairly  be 
admitted,  affirmed,  indeed;  and  the  statement  still  holds 
in  all  essentials.  There  is,  however,  a  twofold  difficulty 
met  in  the  attempt  to  interpret  animal  actions:  (1)  in 


The  Subject  of  Education  79 

explaining  their  actions  in  terms  of  human  experience; 
and  (2)  in  denying  to  them  anything  in  common  with 
men.  While  the  former  mistake  is  likely  to  be  made 
by  one  who  works  much  with  animals  and  has  frequent 
occasion  to  note  their  marks  of  intelligence,  the  latter 
is  even  more  likely  to  follow  an  exclusive  acquaintance 
with  children.  Rarey,  the  famous  horse  trainer  of  a 
generation  ago,  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  got  his 
insight  into  horse  nature  through  studying  human 
nature.  Equally,  perhaps,  with  much  reason  at  least, 
it  may  be  said,  the  teacher's  understanding  of  child 
nature  and  character  will  be  clarified  when  he  is  made 
familiar  with  what  the  manager  of  the  "  Animal  Para- 
dox "  is  able  to  tell  him.  This  may  be  made  clearer, 
perhaps,  by  putting  it  differently.  A  similar  difficulty 
appears  in  the  attempt  to  interpret  human  actions.  This 
also  is  twofold,  shown  in  the  disposition,  (1)  to  explain 
human  actions  (many  of  them)  in  terms  of  automatism 
and  instinct,  and  (2)  to  deny  to  the  higher  forms  of  life 
the  instincts  of  the  animal. 

Some  points  of  likeness  and  difference  between  men 
and  the  lower  animals  may  fairly  be  taken  as  by  com- 
mon consent:  most  animals  reason,  and,  within  the 
limits  of  their  experience,  often,  as  well  as  do  men.  All 
brute  reasoning,  however,  even  the  most  highly  devel- 
oped, seems  to  be:  (1)  concrete,  (2)  individual,  and  (3) 
associative,  resting  chiefly  upon  contiguity.  Certain 
animals,  also,  may  be  taught  to  use  symbols,  in  a  way. 
But  this,  obviously,  is  similar  to  the  first  child  knowl- 
edge and  use  of  symbols — every  name  is  a  proper  name; 


80  Science  of  Education 

i.e.,  it  bears  an  individual,  not  general  significance. 
With  the  dog  under  training,  a  new  movement  requires 
a  new  symbol;  in  the  human  individual,  the  new  move- 
ment allies  itself  with,  not  another  individual  move- 
ment, which  it  duplicates,  but  with  one  or  another  of 
several  classes  of  movements,  already  more  or  less  fa- 
miliar, in  the  light  of  which  the  new  one  is  interpreted. 
Both  the  lower  and  the  higher  forms  may  be  trained ; 
the  latter  only  are  here  characterized  as  subjects  of 
education.  In  the  two  products  there  are  decided  and 
far-reaching  differences.  The  process,  in  dog  or  pony, 
results  in  giving  him  facility  through  routine — a  par- 
ticular skill  limited  to  what  has  been  taught;  in  the 
case  of  a  child  there  is  added  to  this,  generic  power, 
making  possible  from  the  one  lesson  the  acquirement 
of  a  more  or  less  different  skill  in  untaught  lines.  A 
dog,  e.g.,  having  been  so  taught,  may  unknot  a  thou- 
sand ropes,  without  coming  nearer  to  the  point  of  turn- 
ing a  new  one,  or  the  same  straight  rope,  into  a  different 
twist.  A  dog,  also,  familiar  with  turning  somersaults, 
and  understanding  the  meaning  of  "  back  "  or  "back- 
ward "  must  yet  be  taught,  as  a  new  trick,  how  to  turn 
a  "backward  somersault."  Now,  it  is  just  this  power 
to  do  things  which  have  never  been  taught,  or  even  sug- 
gested by  the  teacher,  but  which  has  come  from  his  per- 
sonal reaction  upon  what  has  been  taught,  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  education  of  the  child  from  the  kindred 
process  in  the  dog,  or  the  flea  or  the  elephant.  The 
former  is  called  properly  "  education,"  the  latter  train- 
ing. Training  results  in  specific  skill;  education,  in 


The  Subject  of  Education  81 

resourceful  power.  Training,  whether  in  animal  or 
child,  looks  to  facility  in  doing,  rather  than  initiative  in 
thinking.  It  suggests  dexterity,  but  in  fixed  and  narrow 
fields.  If  it  reaches  expertness,  there  is  implied  a  cul- 
tivated ability  that  connects  itself  with  education. 
Knack,  skill,  mechanical  readiness,  aptness,  handiness, 
adroitness,  belong  to  the  one;  resourcefulness,  versa- 
tility, adjustment  of  means,  adaptability,  abundant  con- 
trivance, to  the  other.  Training  goes  with  repetition  of 
movement  or  mental  action;  education,  with  venture, 
experiment  and  judgment.  Training  results  in  tradi- 
tion and  habit;  education,  in  manifoldness  of  interest 
and  invention.  The  one  is  stable  and  safe  and  uniform; 
the  other,  progressive.  In  training,  the  lesson  taught 
is  returned  in  kind — a  more  or  less  exact  copy  of  the 
original.  It  is  imitative,  and  often  unthinking.  It 
looks  to  perfect  reproduction,  careless  of  implied  les- 
sons. Training  fits  the  subject  to  give  back  what  it  has 
received.  Education,  on  the  other  hand,  stimulates  the 
imagination,  and  offers  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  the 
creative  faculties.  Retentiveness  and  faithfulness  of 
imitation  underlie  the  former;  the  latter,  with  equal 
respect  for  an  unfailing  memory,  is  endowed  with  a 
creative  reaction  which  combines  into  new  forms  the 
simple  experiences  on  the  basis  of  their  inner  meanings. 
Among  the  nations,  an  emphasis  of  the  former  gives 
stability  and  an  appointed  cast  to  their  institutions;  a 
cultivation  of  the  latter  encourages  change,  and,  in  gen- 
eral, progress.  Any  being,  whose  functions  compass 
both  sets  of  capacities,  may  be  educated. 


82  Science  of  Education 

Once  more,  education  emphasizes,  in  its  process,  the 
universal  element  in  man — personality;  training,  the 
individual.  This  regards  information;  so  much  acqui- 
sition held  as  mere  possession;  more  or  less  foreign  to 
the  mind,  but  usable;  that,  wisdom,  knowledge  assimi- 
lated, transformed  or  transformable  into  generic 
energy.  The  often  disconsolate  Cowper  had  an  insight 
into  some  such  distinction  when  he  wrote: 

"  Knowledge  and  wisdom  far  from  being  one 
Have  oft-times  no  connection.     Knowledge  dwells 
In  heads  replete  with  thoughts  of  other  men; 
Wisdom  in  minds  attentive  to  their  own." 

By  long  training  and  an  exigent  process  of  teach- 
ing, one  may  have  converged  upon  him,  as  in  a  stream, 
theoretically,  all  the  learning  of  the  ages,  but  neither 
enriching  this  store  of  knowledge  by  resolving  it  into, 
for  him,  new  meanings,  nor  being  himself  improved 
by  its  possession ;  being  a  reservoir  of  information,  but 
neither  an  interpreter  of  it  nor  a  creator  of  new  forms. 
By  education  the  mind  becomes  an  organ  for  working 
over  its  accumulations,  as  the  raw  material  of  its  experi- 
ences, and  the  occasion  of  its  own  maturing.  One  puts 
a  coin  into  his  purse.  In  the  purse  it  remains  a  coin; 
and,  taken  out  betimes,  it  is  the  same  coin,  changed 
neither  in  form  nor  value.  It  loses  nothing;  it  gains 
nothing.  It  is  the  original  one  talent  returned  to  the 
master  at  his  coming,  without  increment  or  waste.  This 
admirably  symbolizes  mere  training.  Knowledge  so 
learned,  or  skill  so  acquired,  is  stored  against  examina- 


The  Subject  of  Education  83 

tion  day,  or  the  call  of  the  taskmaster.  The  mind  is 
neither  enriched  by  it  nor  the  skill  or  knowledge  im- 
proved. Hid  in  the  napkin  of  an  unthinking  mind,  it 
loses  its  rightful  usury.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  coin 
destined  for  the  purse  were  such  a  coin  that,  once  in  the 
purse,  it  bred  other  coins,  of  manifold  values  and  make, 
and,  by  virtue  of  its  presence  in  the  purse  and  with 
other  coins,  shared  with  them  all,  in  increasing  the 
actual  and  usable  value  of  the  contents,  how  anxious 
every  lover  of  riches  would  covet  its  possession!  But 
this  is  a  partial  symbol  only  of  what  real  knowledge 
does  in  the  mind.  Properly  used  it  breeds  and  multi- 
plies. It  was  a  favorite  dictum  of  Froebel  that  "  the 
primary  function  of  the  teacher  is  to  sow  mother 
thoughts  ";  thoughts  that  easily  lend  themselves  to  gen- 
eration and  reproduction.  Every  genuine  experience 
becomes  recreative.  This  is  the  nature  of  education. 
It  eschews  mere  storage  and  pigeon-holing.  Experi- 
ences are  given  free  commerce.  Each  reacts  upon  every 
other.  The  value  of  each  is  multiplied  into  all.  But 
once  more,  in  the  illustration,  if  the  coins  be  conceived 
as  not  only  multiplying  themselves  and  increasing  their 
own  values,  by  virtue  of  there  being  carried  on  this  free 
commerce  among  them;  but  as  so  reacting  upon  the 
purse,  that  the  purse  itself  becomes  more  of  a  purse, 
with  larger  capacity,  of  better  quality,  and  of  such 
changed  nature  that  it  comes  to  have  the  power  to  re- 
inforce this  multiplication  of  values,  and  to  make  coins 
of  its  own  designing,  and  bearing  its  own  stamp;  the 
meaning  of  the  illustration  will  be  more  apparent.  This, 


84  Science  of  Education 

distinctively,  is  of  the  nature  of  education.  The  mind 
itself  is  made  over  by  the  knowledge  it  has  and  uses  to 
its  own  ends.  It  creates  its  own  ideals,  and  formulates 
its  own  purposes,  and  shapes  its  own  experiences ;  it  con- 
structs and  solves  its  own  problems;  and  utters  its  own 
interpretations.  This  is  education — this  coming  to 
wisdom,  that  shall  primarily  be  "  attentive  to  its  own," 
not  alone  others'  thoughts.  This  it  is  to  grow  in  per- 
sonality, to  be  more  than  individual;  to  stand  for  the 
universal  in  culture  and  possession;  to  bring  the  one 
mind  to  be  a  sharer  in  the  divine  quality  of  all  mind — 
creativeness.  Mere  training  stifles  this  instinct,  and 
tends  to  limit  mind  by  emphasizing  chiefly  imitation 
and  the  nursing  of  a  store  of  individual  ideas. 

Humanism,  originally  committed  to  spiritual  disci- 
pline, came  in  time  to  depreciate  discipline  into  a  train- 
ing. Technological  training,  on  the  contrary,  intro- 
duced as  an  utility,  has,  in  its  best  estate,  and  not  unfre- 
quently,  exalted  practice  into  a  discipline.  It  is  a  com- 
monplace among  thoughtful  men  that  any  experience  or 
learning  or  skill  that  has  legitimate  uses  in  thinking  or 
doing,  may  be  accompanied  by  this  incident  of  thought 
creation  and  great  achievement.  For  the  effecting 
of  highest  returns  of  good  to  the  soul,  the  mind  is  pe- 
culiarly indifferent  to  the  material  or  instrument  it  uses, 
provided  only  that  this  material  have  constructive  adap- 
tation. Language  in  general,  or  a  particular  language, 
or  the  classics  of  the  traditional  school;  philosophy  and 
the  philosophical  courses;  mathematics  as  a  pure  sci- 
ence, or  the  mathematical  sciences;  history,  literature, 


The  Subject  of  Education  85 

art  and  ethics;  the  experimental  and  laboratory  sci- 
ences; industry,  trade  and  technology — mind  has  them 
all  for  its  own.  Breadth  of  interest,  manly  self-reliance, 
public  enterprise  and  a  sense  of  personal  responsibility; 
resourcefulness  in  emergency  or  in  difficulty,  a  chas- 
tened mind  and  the  scholarly  habit,  may  accompany  the 
serious  pursuit  of  any  of  them.  Virtue  lies,  not  in  the 
branch  studied,  but  in  the  way;  the  motive  with  which 
it  is  pursued,  and  the  uses  made  of  its  lessons.  Whether 
the  field  be  the  humanities  or  technology,  education 
discovers  the  man  in  the  thinking  and  doing;  training, 
the  artisan  or  the  machine.  The  former  looks  to  stimu- 
lating and  reinforcing  personal  initiative;  the  latter  to 
the  following  of  alien  authority  and  suggestion.  "  The 
end  of  education,"  it  has  been  said,  "  is  to  actualize  in 
each  individual  his  potential  freedom,  his  implicit  self- 
determinateness."  As  in  manufacture,  so  here,  some 
tools,  will  be  found,  in  particular  cases,  to  be  more 
effective  than  others.  But,  speaking  broadly,  the  tool 
is  unimportant.  It  is  an  incident,  and,  in  general,  its 
significance  passes  with  its  using.  Its  virtue  consists 
not  in  the  holding  of  it,  but  in  its  being  translated  into 
effect  for  the  heart,  or  the  mind,  or  the  body;  for  pleas- 
ure or  profit  for  self  or  others. 

Finally,  that  a  creature  possessing  the  attributes 
named  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  is  the  only  subject 
of  education,  is  not  more  true  than  that  these  attri- 
butes, not  those  which  man  shares  with  the  lower  ani- 
mals, are  the  ones  to  which  appeal  is  made,  and  which 
respond  in  education.  The  child  yields  readily  to  train- 


86  Science  of  Education 

ing  also,  not  less  than  to  education.  In  any  system  of 
directed  education,  certain  of  the  exercises  must  be  of 
the  character  of  training.  Much  of  what  the  child  must 
know,  in  order  to  get  along  with  his  fellows,  he  learns 
outside  of  school,  but  for  some  of  it  he  must  depend 
upon  the  more  formal  lessons.  There  are  many  things 
he  must  know.  In  part,  these  are  acquired  through 
much  drill  and  iteration;  in  part,  through  use  and  his 
own  personal  attempts.  These  so-called  training  exer- 
cises include  chiefly:  (1)  all  symbols  as  such;  (2)  conven- 
tional codes  of  the  purely  social  nature;  (3)  business 
forms;  (4)  civic  requirements,  and  (5)  church  cere- 
monies. Indeed,  all  of  them  might,  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  the  thought,  be  included  under  the  first  class. 
Conventional  codes  and  business  forms,  and  civic  orders 
and  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  are  all  so  many  symbols. 
Tinder  the  first  head,  however,  may  be  considered 
letters,  sounds,  words,  spelling,  syllables,  pronuncia- 
tion; writing;  sentence  order,  rules  and  conditions  of 
compositions;  the  naming  of  objects  with  their  attri- 
butes, and  persons  and  places  with  their  individual  char- 
acteristics; art  and  industrial  forms,  geometric  forms; 
figures  and  current  modes  of  calculation;  all  of  which 
are  more  or  less  arbitrary,  but  having  an  established 
order  that  must  be  mastered  by  him  who  would  use 
them.  The  mastering  of  them  is  more  or  less  a  matter 
of  training.  Added  to  these  are  the  formal  conven- 
tional codes;  of  salutation,  characteristic  of  the  cultured 
people  of  one's  time  and  region;  of  courtesy,  both 
among  friends  or  kin,  and  strangers — acceptable  forms, 


The  Subject  of  Education  87 

but  springing  from  an  ingrained  habit;  of  obedience, 
whether  to  established  customs,  to  invested  authority, 
to  persons  in  office,  or  to  a  public  opinion,  and  looking 
to  the  common  welfare;  of  social  respect,  to  the  aged, 
to  one's  superiors,  to  women,  to  the  needy  or  the  suf- 
fering, to  one's  inferiors  in  the  industrial  or  social  order, 
etc.  All  of  which  codes,  again,  are  arbitrary,  but  bind- 
ing upon  all  who  would  add  to  their  personal  efficiency 
this  strength  that  comes  from  membership  in  an  or- 
ganized social  group,  of  whose  intelligent  intercourse 
the  codes  are  symbols.  Their  acquisition  by  the  indi- 
vidual is  through  a  process  of  training  rather  than  edu- 
cation. Among  the  most  important  of  the  social  forms, 
and,  because  they  rest  upon  a  complex  and  suggestive 
social  life,  more  educative,  perhaps,  are  the  so-called 
business  forms.  In  general,  too,  they  seem  to  be  quite 
as  arbitrary,  though  often  resting  upon  reasonable 
grounds.  And,  because  reasonable,  and  not  altogether 
arbitrary,  they  may  be  made  the  occasion  of  profitable 
educational  activity.  The  distinctively  business  forms 
may  be  included  chiefly  under  the  following  heads:  the 
market,  including  business  calculations,  established 
measures  and  units,  simple  legal  forms,  orders,  receipts, 
checks,  notes,  letters,  money  and  exchange  values, 
banks,  banking,  supply  and  demand,  the  store,  bills, 
debts,  loans,  interest,  etc.;  transportation,  including 
knowledge  of  highways  with  their  rights  and  privileges, 
steam  and  other  roads  and  their  rights,  codes  of  travel, 
railway  and  commercial  geography,  shipping  markets, 
trunk  lines,  terminals,  and  connecting  industrial  and 


88  Science  of  Education 

political  centres,  and  the  laws  of  such  intercourse;  and, 
finally,  the  office,  including  notions  of  official  authority, 
professional  forms  and  formulEe,  office  customs,  medi- 
cal and  legal  nomenclature  and  technical  matters  as 
they  become  part  of  the  common  lay  experience. 

Another  field  of  abundant  training  exercises  of  far- 
reaching  consequences  is  that  which  comprises  the  rela- 
tions of  the  civic  and  municipal  life:  the  duties  and 
privileges  of  citizenship,  one's  relations  to  his  fellows, 
as  members  of  a  common  political  body,  the  forms  of 
procedure  in  civil  and  public  affairs,  how  to  act  as  a 
neighbor,  as  a  habitant  of  a  city,  as  a  citizen  of  the 
commonwealth,  at  the  post-office,  touching  revenues 
and  customs,  the  census  and  assessments,  elections,  etc. 
While,  in  a  general  way,  these  may  be  made  a  means 
of  more  or  less  education,  they  are  primarily,  and  for 
the  great  majority  of  individuals,  objects  of  training. 
Concerning  these  matters,  each  must  be  given  a  habit  of 
right  civic  behavior.  This  is  training:  of  the  better 
sort,  certainly;  but  training,  rather  than  education.  So, 
of  all  church  ceremonies  a  similar  statement  may  be 
made.  They  are  acquired  with  a  minimum  of  educa- 
tional result,  but  wholesome  as  training.  They  must  be 
learned,  as  all  symbols  are  learned,  through  much  repe- 
tition. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  school  these  several  symbols 
and  codes  may  be  considered  in  two  groups:  (1)  those 
that  are  needed  and  employed  in  further  learning;  and 
(2)  those  involved  in  social  intercourse.  The  former 
include  language  as  reading,  something  of  a  nomencla- 


The  Subject  of  Education  89 

ture  of  science,  and  the  signs  and  symbols  in  mathe- 
matics; the  latter,  the  codes  that  obtain  among  one's 
people  touching  the  social,  business,  ethical  and  civic 
relations.  To  the  degree  that  schooling  is  an  effort  to 
equip  the  individual  for  intelligent  participation  in  the 
world's  social  order;  for  effective  living  in  growing  in- 
stitutions under  established  codes;  the  programme  of  the 
school  must  look  to  training  each  indivdual  in  the 
habits  that  make  for  social  integrity  and  an  organized 
community  life.  The  tools  of  this  common  efficiency 
must  be  mastered  by  each.  They  constitute  the  alpha- 
bet of  learning  and  of  group  intercourse.  This  is 
largely  a  matter  of  training.  The  rudiments  of  this 
acquisition  are  more  or  less  fixed,  and  are  not  subject 
to  personal  judgment  and  preference.  The  use  of  social 
and  business  codes  may  not  safely  be  made  a  matter  of 
one's  whim,  or  their  general  practice  be  ignored.  Both 
in  school  and  in  life,  how  best  to  grow  finds  its  worthy 
complement  in  how  best  to  behave.  And,  in  the 
achievement  of  the  latter,  the  requirements  of  the 
school,  as  of  life,  are  exacting. 

Through  all  the  earlier  years  of  the  growing  child, 
therefore,  an  emphasis  is  very  properly  placed  upon  ex- 
ercises that  are  designed  to  put  the  child  into  possession 
of  the  necessary  tools  of  learning,  and  the  primary  con- 
ventions that  lie  at  the  foundation  of  a  safe  and  helpful 
congregate  life.  Whatever  else  is  done  or  omitted, 
these  must  not  be  disregarded.  They  belong  to  the 
class  of  experiences  which  all  have  need  to  share.  It 
is  easy  to  discover,  therefore,  the  reason  for  the  primi- 


90  Science  of  Education 

live  emphasis  which  schools  and  popular  thought  placed 
upon  the  three  R's  as  being,  in  the  simple  life  of  an 
earlier  day,  the  obvious  essentials  in  one's  training,  for 
adult,  social  and  business  responsibilities.  That  they 
are  no  longer  exclusively  essential  should  not  detract 
from  a  recognition  of  their  far-reaching  meaning  in  all 
formal  education,  even  to-day.  These,  particularly  the 
language  arts,  are  fundamental.  The  effective,  facile 
use  of  one's  vernacular,  adequate  to  the  expression  of 
one's  experience,  should  be  coveted  by  the  school  for 
every  child;  such  mastery  of  it  as  makes  an  acquaintance 
with  the  records  of  the  race's  thought  and  achievement 
an  inviting  task.  Language,  in  this  sense,  must  come 
early  to  be  used  as  a  tool,  not  an  unfamiliar  product  to 
be  thought  upon  or  investigated.  The  book  habit  must 
be  acquired:  not  an  exclusive  temper,  but  an  easy  in- 
strument. 

But,  even  here,  among  the  acquirements  of  symbol 
and  conventionality,  the  process  may  be  made  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  educative,  and  not  mere  training. 
Any  exercise  that  stimulates  the  child's  initiative  and 
occasions  a  growth  of  his  sense  of  responsibility,  in  ever 
so  small  a  measure,  the  power  and  disposition  to  do 
work  of  his  own  purposing,  the  application  of  personal 
effort,  is  so  far  educative,  and  is,  by  the  same  tokens, 
distinguished  from  training.  It  is  believed  that  upon 
most  forms  of  technical  and  conventional  training,  so 
called,  this  educational  bias  may  be  conferred.  What- 
ever the  tendency  of  the  life  outside  the  school,  the  un- 
wavering purpose  of  the  school  should  be  to  reduce  the 


The  Subject  of  Education  91 

exclusively  and  narrowly  training  exercises  to  a  mini- 
mum; and  to  make  each  an  instrument  of  self-helpful- 
ness and  personal  initiative.  That  this  may  be  done, 
touching  many  kinds  of  technical  and  formal  learning, 
appears  from  actual  achievement.  Children  best  learn 
to  read  by  much  (directed)  reading.  Various  grades  of 
hand  work,  with  and  without  tools,  while  developing 
skill,  also  cultivate  resourcefulness  and  thoughtful  in- 
genuity. The  nomenclature  and  organization  of  science 
are  mastered  through  scientific  experiment  and  investi- 
gation. In  the  higher  technical  courses,  an  invariable 
accompaniment  and  product  of  all  doing  is  the  added 
power  and  disposition  to  do.  That  the  simple,  formal 
and  symbol-freighted  lessons  of  elementary  classes 
should  be  so  treated  as  to  leave  the  pupil  increasingly 
self-helpful,  follows  as  an  obvious  corollary  of  these 
statements. 

It  would  seem  reasonable,  therefore,  that  every 
lesson  of  the  school,  as  far  as  may  be,  should  be  made 
a  means  of  self -directive  effort  in  the  pupil;  that 
the  emphasis  be  put,  not  upon  how  much  he  learns,  but 
upon  self -guidance  and  personal  reactions;  that  the  true 
function  of  the  teacher  is  to  be  stimulating  and  sug- 
gestive, not  controlling;  that  the  child  be  encouraged 
in  voluntary  effort;  initiating  and  carrying  on  experi- 
ences of  his  own  choosing,  in  series  of  his  own  planning, 
looking  to  the  accomplishing  of  results  of  his  own  pur- 
posing, and  in  his  own  way;  in  the  earliest  years  even, 
to  read  something,  ever  so  simple,  for  his  own  pleasure; 
to  spell  words  of  his  own  selection,  thus  fixing  a  habit 


92  Science  of  Education 

of  noting  the  letter  composition  of  words;  to  use  his 
knowledge  of  number  in  measurement  and  calculation 
to  meet  the  needs  of  his  own  passing  experiences;  to 
engage  his  interest  in  observing  and  using  and  enjoying 
the  happenings  of  nature  about  him;  as  often  as  may 
be,  free  from  the  detailed  prescriptions  of  the  school, 
that  his  own  alert,  spontaneous  acquaintance  with  the 
outer  world  may  furnish  abundant  material  for  the 
teacher's  more  systematic  lessons ;  that  he  be  encouraged 
in  the  somewhat  free  and  simple,  childish  regard  for 
people  and  their  doings,  their  employments  and  amuse- 
ments, their  homes  and  tools  and  exploits — to  the  end 
that  his  sympathy  with  human  life  and  social  move- 
ments be  conserved. 

All  this  is  simply  by  way  of  appeal  to  the  rational, 
human  quality  in  the  child,  as  distinct  from  the  imita- 
tive following  of  prescriptive  exercises.  If  he  is  to 
be  made  self-helpful,  his  self-helpfulness  must  be  ex- 
ercised ;  even  in  the  first  years  he  must  be  stimulated 
to  attempt  some  things  unaided,  without  even  the  hint 
of  the  teacher;  and  many  more  upon  suggestion,  but 
free  from  any  limiting  control.  This  is  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  self-activity,  which  is  one  of  the  pri- 
mary instincts  of  the  child.  To  preserve  this  free  im- 
pulse to  know  and  enjoy,  and  to  save  it  fresh  for  youth 
and  adult  years,  is  the  high  achievement  of  great  teach- 
ing. "  For  either  the  book  or  the  teacher  to  do  the  whole 
work  is  to  rob  the  child  of  power."  The  benefit  of  most 
subjects  of  study  is  not  in  the  having,  but  in  the  getting. 
Lessons  should  aim  at  cultivating  power  to  get  knowl- 


The  Subject  of  Education  93 

edge,  to  originate  experience,  to  follow  the  implications 
of  experience,  to  interpret  conditions,  and  to  recognize 
and  use  means.  And  this  applies  not  to  youth  and 
adults  only  in  their  culturing,  but  to  comparatively 
young  children.  Education,  then,  as  here  employed,  as 
distinct  from  formal  training,  signifies  an  appeal  to 
the  rational,  idealizing,  creative  powers  of  the  child, 
and  a  gradual  working  away  from  dictation,  pattern- 
following  and  counterfeit  doing. 

Education  presupposes  a  free,  rational,  intelligent, 
self-conscious,  self-determining  being  as  its  only  subject. 


CHAPTER  VH 
THE  INSTRUMENT  OF  EDUCATION 

2.  EDUCATION  presupposes  an  equally  rational  (ra- 
tionally made)  world  of  happening  and  doing  as  its 
only  instrument. 

The  word  rational  has  two  legitimate  meanings:  the 
one  use  signifying,  "  having  the  faculty  of  reasoning," 
or  "  endowed  with  reason  or  understanding  " ;  the  other, 
"  being  agreeable  to  reason,  reasonable,  constituted  or 
governed  by  reason."  Mr.  Huxley  says:  "Law  means 
a  rule  which  we  have  always  found  to  hold  good,  and 
which  we  expect  always  will  hold  good."  In  this  latter 
use,  there  is  in  the  world,  apparently,  intention  or  pur- 
pose or  design.  The  objects  and  their  phenomena  are 
recognized  as  significant,  as  having  meaning,  and  being 
interpretable,  capable  of  explanation.  We  think  of  the 
Divine  mind  as  rational,  and  speak  of  the  human  mind 
as  rational,  i.e.,  constructive,  creative,  intelligent;  but 
in  either  case,  that  which  it  creates,  or  produces,  or  does, 
is  also  rational,  in  that  it  has  meaning  in  it.  In  its 
parts  and  their  relations,  there  is  discoverable  an  order 
as  if  following  a  plan  or  purpose;  and  not  existing  or 
changing  by  chance  or  haphazard.  As  Prof.  James 
phrases  it :  "  the  whole  world  is  rationally  intelligible 

94 


The  Instrument  of  Education  95 

throughout,  after  the  pattern  of  some  ideal  system." 
Elsewhere  in  even  more  striking  words  he  affirms  that 
it  "  contains  consciousness  as  well  as  atoms."  Again, 
he  describes  it  as  "  a  world  in  which  general  laws  obtain, 
in  which  universal  propositions  are  true,  and  in  which, 
therefore,  reasoning  is  possible."  Because  "  nature  is 
simple  and  invariable,"  and  because  the  world  is  in- 
telligible, its  phenomena  appeal  to  human  intelligence. 
If  objects  in  daily  use  had  not  constant  properties;  if 
happenings  were  not  traceable  to  uniform  antecedents; 
if  a  name  were  sometimes  applicable,  and  sometimes 
not,  to  a  given  object;  if  forms  of  otherwise  familiar 
things  were  transient  and  irregular;  if  the  world  of 
thing  and  change  were  orderless  and  inconstant;  it 
would,  as  a  consequence,  be  unusable,  because  unthink- 
able. Says  Dr.  DeWitt  Hyde  in  his  Social  Theology: 
"...  the  world  of  human  science,  and  art,  and  his- 
tory and  politics  is  throughout  an  ordered  world.  All 
things  are  firmly  bound  together  by  indissoluble  laws: 
so  that  a  change  at  one  point  involves  a  compensating 
change  in  everything  even  remotely  connected  with 
it.  .  .  .  The  world  of  our  thought  is  one.  All 
things  in  it  stand  to  each  other  in  reciprocal  relations. 
Each  thing  must  take  its  definite  place  by  the  side  of 
other  things  in  space;  each  event  must  take  its  precise 
position  before  and  after  events  in  time;  each  quality 
must  be  bound  up  with,  and  dependent  upon,  other  qual- 
ities, under  the  conception  of  substance  which  we  put 
upon  groups  of  qualities  to  hold  them  together  in  our 
minds;  each  change  must  be  the  correlate  of  other 


96  Science  of  Education 

changes  according  to  the  law  of  cause  and  effect, 
whereby  we  maintain  for  our  thought  the  identity  of 
the  world  in  the  midst  of  its  increasing  transforma- 
tion. .  .  .  The  world  is  the  great  mirror  in  which 
our  reason  sees  itself  reflected."  And  the  late  Her- 
bert Spencer  says :  "  The  power  manifested  throughout 
the  universe  distinguished  as  material,  is  the  same 
power  which,  in  ourselves,  wells  up  under  the  form  of 
consciousness."  But  as  the  previous  author  quoted 
says:*  "  The  fixed  relations  in  which  all  objects  of  our 
thought  stand  to  each  other  are  not  of  our  own  making. 
This  coherence  ...  is  no  device  of  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  beholder.  The  unity  of  all  the  forces  and 
facts  of  the  world  in  an  organic  whole  of  reason  we 
discover,  but  do  not  create."  The  wheelbarrow  has 
thought  in  its  constitution,  as  must  appear,  because  of 
which,  it  is  a  wheelbarrow,  and  not  an  aggregation  of 
wood  and  metal.  The  like  statement  may  be  made  of 
the  farm,  the  tree,  the  human  form,  a  work  of  fine  art, 
a  building,  an  act  of  heroism.  Each  is  what  it  is  by 
virtue  of  the  "  immanent  purposefulness  "  of  it. 

There  is  meaning  in  all  nature,  human  and  material. 
The  world  is  intelligent  in  the  sense  that  a  thread  of  in- 
telligence or  meaningfulness  runs  through  both  its  more 
permanent  states  and  changes.  "  In  the  universe,"  it 
has  been  said,  there  is  "no  chance  and  no  anarchy." 
Emerson  speaks  of  "  stubborn  matter  that  will  not 
swerve  from  its  chemical  routine " ;  and  "  a  planted 
globe,  pierced  and  belted  with  natural  laws."  Phenom- 
*  W.  DeWitt  Hyde.  "  Social  Theology,"  p.  15. 


The  Instrument  of  Education  97 

ena  show  exacting  kinships,  and  the  mind  readily  dis- 
covers lines  of  cleavage  and  grouping  and  the  threads  of 
meaning  running  through  the  whole.  "  Genius  detects 
through  the  fly,  the  caterpillar,  the  grub,  the  egg,  the 
constant  individual;  through  countless  individuals,  the 
fixed  species;  through  many  species,  the  genus;  through 
all  genera,  the  steadfast  type;  through  all  kingdoms  of 
organized  life,  the  eternal  unity."  We  believe  the  very 
existence,  the  organization  of  the  universe,  to  depend 
upon  the  unchangeable  verity  of  these  laws;  a  connect- 
ing thread  of  interdependence  and  re-enforcement, 
through  it  all,  from  the  primal  elements  and  forces  of 
matter,  up  to  and  through  the  highest  forms  of  animal 
life.  "  In  this  confidence  in  the  intelligibility  of  nature," 
said  Lange,  "  lies  the  foundation  of  all  science." 
Though  she  sometimes  feigns  to  contravene  her  own 
laws,  nature,  we  conclude,  is  always  consistent;  each 
part  responds  to  every  other.  Cloud  and  clod  and  sun; 
brute  and  man;  heat  and  moisture;  matter  and  spirit; 
flower  and  feeling;  share  in  common  relations.  "A 
change  at  one  point  involves  a  compensating  change  in 
everything  even  remotely  connected  with  it."  This  life 
and  its  conditions  react  upon  that.  In  all  internal  re- 
lations, the  manifold  is  a  unity.  One  of  the  most  con- 
servative of  scientists*  has  said :  "  There  is  nothing  as 
yet  observed  in  the  order  of  events  to  make  us  doubt 
that  the  universe  is  bound  together,  in  space  and  time, 
as  a  single  entity." 

Not  only  is  it  true  that  if  phenomena  were  not  gov- 
*  Gallon.     "  Inquiry  into  Human  Faculty." 


98  Science  of  Education 

erned  by  invariable  laws,  the  existence  of  science  would 
be  impossible;  but  there  could,  for  the  same  reason, 
be  no  body  of  individual  or  group  experience,  and  no 
use,  by  man,  of  the  world  of  either  thing  or  thought. 
Quoting  Prof.  James  *  again,  "  this  world  might  be  a 
world  in  which  all  things  differed,  and  in  which  what 
properties  there  were  were  ultimate  and  had  no  farther 
predicates.  In  such  a  world  there  would  be  as  many 
kinds  as  there  were  separate  things.  We  could  never 
subsume  a  new  thing  under  an  old  kind ;  or  if  we  could, 
no  consequences  would  follow.  Or,  again,  this  might 
be  a  world  in  which  innumerable  things  were  of  a  kind, 
but  in  which  no  concrete  thing  remained  of  the  same 
kind  long,  but  all  objects  were  in  a  flux.  Here,  again, 
though  we  could  subsume  and  infer,  our  logic  would  be 
of  no  practical  use  to  us,  for  the  subjects  of  our  propo- 
sitions would  have  changed  whilst  we  were  talking. 
In  such  worlds,  logical  relations  would  obtain,  and  be 
known,  doubtless,  as  they  are  now,  but  they  would 
form  a  merely  theoretic  scheme  and  be  of  no  use  for 
the  conduct  of  life.  But  our  world  is  no  such  world. 
It  is  a  very  peculiar  world,  and  plays  right  into  logic's 
hands.  Some  of  the  things,  at  least,  which  it  contains, 
are  of  the  same  kind  as  the  other  things;  some  of  them 
remain  always  of  the  kind  of  which  they  once  were; 
and  some  of  the  properties  of  them  cohere  indissolubly 
and  are  always  found  together.  Which  things  these 
latter  things  are  we  learn  by  experience  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word,  and  the  results  of  the  experience  are 
embodied  in  '  empirical  propositions.'  Whenever  such 
*Prof.  James.  "Psychology,"  TO!,  ii,  p.  651. 


The  Instrument  of  Education  99 

a  thing  is  met  with  by  us  now,  our  sagacity  notes  it  to 
be  of  a  certain  kind;  our  learning  immediately  recalls 
that  kind's  kind,  and  then  that  kind's  kind,  and  so  on; 
so  that  a  moment's  thinking  may  make  us  aware  that 
the  thing  is  of  a  kind  so  remote  that  we  could  never 
have  directly  perceived  the  connection." 

We  no  more  depend  upon  the  regulated  rising  and 
setting  of  the  sun,  the  accustomed  recurrence  of  the 
seasons,  and  our  personal  identity,  than  we  count  on  the 
reappearance,  in  future  experience,  of  the  qualities  we 
have  found  in  matter — that  water  will  wet,  and  fire 
burn;  that  the  cut  artery  will  bleed,  acorns  produce 
oaks,  and  the  soil  germinate  seeds;  that  "there"  is 
farther  than  "  here,"  and  that  "  age  "  follows  "  youth  " ; 
that  pestilence  accompanies  filth,  not  cleanliness;  and 
that  a  wrong  done  to  another  reacts  on  the  doer.  Things 
are  not  thrown  hodge-podge  together.  And  the  fact 
that  they  are  found  to  have  a  reasonable  order  and  an 
articulated  sequence,  is  the  fact  that  makes  them  ser- 
viceable, not  less  than  intelligible  to  man — perhaps  ser- 
viceable because  also  intelligible.  Indeed,  it  is  every- 
where apparent  that  the  world  of  phenomena  to  be 
known  and  the  mind  to  know  are  each  adapted  to  the 
other.  They  fit  into  each  other  perfectly.  Between 
nature  and  human  needs,  and  between  the  existence 
and  happenings  of  nature  and  the  laws  of  thought,  there 
exists  a  discoverable  and  usable  parallelism.  As  the 

poet,*  also,  says  of 

" .     .     .    the  power 
called  nature — animate,  inanimate, 

*  Browning.     "Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau." 


100  Science  of  Education 

In  parts,  or  in  the  whole;  there's  something  there 
Man-like,  that  somehow  meets  the  man  in  me." 

In  constitution,  if  not  in  purpose,  it  stands  sponsor 
to  man's  education,  this  world  of  matter  and  force : 

"The  stuff  that's  made,  to  furnish  man  with  thought  and 
feeling." 

In  this  meaning  of  things — both  material  things  and 
the  things  of  the  spirit,  man  and  the  products  of  his 
doing — art,  rationality  appears.  Man  also  becomes 
part  of  man's  environment,  part  of  this  rationally  con- 
stituted world.  Sympathy,  service,  hate,  imitation, 
mother  care,  personal  respect,  love  of  country,  faith, 
credulity,  art,  worship,  business,  amusement,  habit, 
passion  even,  are  meaningful  and  challenge  understand- 
ing. What  the  race  has  thought,  and  done,  and  aspired 
to;  and  feared,  and  loved,  and  honored;  its  inventions, 
and  comforts,  and  luxuries,  and  leisures;  its  abiding 
concerns  and  responsibilities;  its  faiths  and  ideals;  be- 
long also  to  this  articulate  universe,  manifold  with 
mutual  reactions,  and  big  with  thought  responding  to 
thought.  Here  is  excuse  for  history,  and  art,  and  re- 
ligion, and  poetry;  philosophy,  government,  economics, 
politics,  industry,  war,  language — the  round  of  the 
humanities  and  the  arts.  Here  is  common  ground  for 
intercourse  and  appreciation;  for  humane  and  competi- 
tive service;  for  companionship;  for  social  co-operation 
and  an  institutional  life.  Man  also  sets  limits  to  man, 
and  regulates  his  freedom.  The  human  world,  also,  is 


The  Instrument  of  Education         101 

a  rational  world,  and  conforms  to  the  law  of  thinking. 
"  Most  objects  of  daily  use — paper,  ink,  butter,  horse 
car — have  properties  of  such  constant,  unwavering  im- 
portance, and  have  such  stereotyped  names,  that  we  end 
by  believing  that  to  conceive  them  in  those  ways  is  to 
conceive  them  in  the  only  true  way."  His  own  experi- 
ence interprets  to  man  the  experience  of  others.  Find- 
ing his  mind  reflected  in  others,  his  own  becomes  the 
measure  of  all  mind.  The  power  of  spiritual  realities, 
also,  he  feels  and  respects;  the  meaning  of  the  spiritual 
elements  that  constitute  authority,  approval  and  disap- 
proval, rewards  and  punishments. 

"  Conceptions  of  intuitive  truth,"  even,  says  the  Duke 
of  Argyll,*  "  have  come  to  man  because  he  is  a  being  in 
harmony  with  surrounding  nature.  The  human  mind 
has  opened  to  them  as  the  bud  opens  to  sun  and  air. 
Experience  is  a  building  up  or  putting  together  of  con- 
ceptions which  the  access  of  external  nature  finds  ready 
to  be  awakened  in  the  mind.  The  mind  has  no  '  mould,' 
no  forms  which  it  did  not  receive  as  a  part  and  conse- 
quence of  its  unity  with  the  rest  of  nature.  Its  concep- 
tions are  not  manufactured;  they  are  developed.  They 
are  not  made;  they  grow.  The  order  of  thought  under 
which  the  human  mind  renders  intelligible  to  itself  all 
the  phenomena  of  the  universe,  is  not  an  order  which 
it  invents,  but  an  order  which  it  simply  feels  and  sees." 

It  must  be  obvious  that  in  the  world,  then,  that 
which  makes  the  world  to  be  knowable  is  its  rationality. 
That  is,  in  all  essential  relations,  they  are  so  much  alike 
•  Duke  of  Argyll.  "Unity  of  Nature,"  pp.  86,  89. 


102  Science  of  Education 

that  man  can  know  nature  by  what  is  in  himself;  but 
he  could  not  know  nature  except  in  terms  of  nature, 
because  it  is  of  like  nature  with  himself;  and  it  grows 
more  orderly  and  rational  as  the  mind  perceives  its 
simple  constitution  and  orderly  arrangement.  "  The 
world,"  writes  Mr.  Hyde,*  "  is  a  great  mirror  in  which 
our  reason  sees  itself  reflected."  It  is  this  quality  of 
kinship  with  reason,  this  adaptation  to  uses,  this  being 
saturated  with  the  element  of  consciousness,  by  which 
the  universes  of  both  phenomena  and  action  make  their 
appeal  to  the  mind,  become  interesting  and  knowable. 
In  mountain  and  bird  and  plant;  in  shadow  and  storm; 
in  the  recurring  seasons;  in  the  familiar  round  of  daily 
life — companionships,  industries,  pleasures,  and  disap- 
pointments; in  the  phenomena  of  things  and  the  doings 
of  men;  mind  finds  conformity  to  its  own  nature,  and 
the  laws  of  its  own  behavior.  Looking  at  this  material 
world  with  the  eyes  of  the  poet,  Emerson  saw  that  it 
ministers  to  the  wants  of  the  senses ;  answers  to  the  love 
of  beauty;  teaches  the  intellect,  reforming  itself  in 
mind;  becomes  an  instrument  of  language;  and  is  em- 
blematical of  the  spiritual  facts  on  which  it  rests.  Of 
man,  he  says :  "  His  faculties  refer  to  natures  out  of 
him,  and  predict  the  world  he  is  to  inhabit;  as  the  fins 
of  the  fish  foreshow  that  water  exists,  or  the  wings  of  an 
eagle  in  the  egg  presuppose  air.  He  cannot  live  without 
a  world."  It  is  the  complement  of  his  mind,  the  sine 
qua  non  of  his  thinking,  playfellow  for  his  leisure,  part- 
ner in  all  labor.  So  much  insight  as  he  is  able  to 
*  W.  DeWitt  Hyde.  "  Outlines  of  Social  Theology,"  p.  11. 


103 

master,  he  finds  parcelled  out  for  him  in  the  field,  and 
the  shop,  at  his  desk,  and  in  the  crowd.  "  An  object  to 
be  known  is  as  essential  as  the  mind  to  know."  Time, 
place,  cause  and  effect,  means  and  ends,  whole  and  part, 
outer  and  inner,  real  and  ideal,  motive  and  result :  these 
name  relations  that  are  the  essence  of  meaning  and 
human  use.  "Modern  science,"  writes  Ferguson,  "in 
its  sane  moods,  proceeds  upon  an  immense  assumption 
of  faith,  to  wit:  that  nature  is  unitary-,  that  it  is  one 
vast  whole  and  organic  body;  that  is  humanly  reason- 
able, clear  through,  and  viable  to  the  intellect.  .  .  . 
The  soul  sets  out  to  impose  itself  upon  the  universe, 
with  confidence  that,  in  spite  of  appearances,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do  so,  that  the  constitution  of  the  universe  is 
not  alien  to  the  soul."  Here  is  the  excuse  for  and  the 
explanation  of  the  mind's  articulated  experience;  co- 
herent processes;  the  grouping  of  experiences;  recog- 
nizing and  using  facts  in  relation,  in  classes ;  the  tracing 
of  logical  sequences  to  their  conclusions;  the  rounding 
out  of  thinking  and  feeling  in  doing;  the  perception  of 
aesthetic  possibilities  as  grounded  in  natural  appear- 
ances; an  easy  discrimination  of  the  type  form  of  both 
use  and  beauty  as  original  in  nature  also;  a  serviceable 
estimate  of  relative  values  put  upon  things  and 
thoughts,  as  important  and  unimportant.  "  The  mate- 
rials and  order  of  thought,"  says  Johonnot,  "  are  fur- 
nished by  the  outer  world.  In  our  daily  experience  we 
observe  the  sequences  of  nature.  Night  follows  day; 
the  sun  unfailingly  appears  to  pursue  his  course  through 
the  heavens;  vernal  flowers  succeed  winter  snows;  all 


104  Science  of  Education 

vegetable  life  has  an  orderly  course  from  germ  to  ma- 
turity, from  maturity  to  decay;  animals  have  their 
birth,  their  growth,  and  their  decrepitude;  and  every- 
where is  orderly  sequence.  This  observation  leads  the 
mind  to  ascribe  order  to  every  kind  of  phenomena,  and 
develops  in  it  the  logical  faculty."  In  the  words  of  sage, 
essayist,  scientist,  poet,  philosopher,  repeatedly  appears 
this  faith  in  a  satisfying  world,  whose  movements  and 
achievements  are  adequate  to  man's  awakening,  and  a 
guide  to  his  experience.  The  poet,  Browning,*  in 
strikingly  suggestive,  almost  pedagogical  phrase,  says: 

"  I  who  trace 

The  purpose  written  on  the  face  of  things 
For  my  behoof  and  guidance; 
.    .     .     Count  life  just  a  stuff 
To  try  the  soul's  strength  on,  educe  the  man." 

This  emphasis  of  nature  as  distinctly  useful  in  a 
high  and  worthy  sense  as  stimulating  man's  best  en- 
deavor follows  close  upon  his  recognition  of  it  as  being 
purposeful,  as  having  significance  among  parts,  and 
between  part  and  whole;  as  a  spirit-endowed  aggregate 
of  responsible  parts.  In  "  The  Ship  that  Found  Her- 
self," Mr.  Kipling,  in  the  words  of  the  skipper,  de- 
scribes the  vessel  as  "  a  highly  complex  structure  o' 
various  and  conflictin'  strains,  wi'  tissues  that  must 
give  an'  tak'  accordin'  to  her  personal  modulus  of  elas- 
teecity."  But  adds  that,  "  in  the  nature  o'  things,  she's 
just  irons  and  rivets  and  plates  put  in  the  form  of  a 
ship,"  until,  the  parts  having  learned  to  work  together, 
*  Browning.  Poems  :  "  In  a  Balcony." 


The  Instrument  of  Education         105 

she  has  "  found  herself."  The  stringers  must  learn  to 
keep  the  ribs  together;  the  cylinder  needs  a  regular 
supply  of  steam ;  the  garboard-streak  must  bear  the 
pushings  of  the  sea  and  the  weight  of  the  cargo;  the 
sea-valve  must  be  tight  against  the  driving  waves;  the 
bulwark  plates  must  swing  promptly  and  surely;  the 
rivets  must  know  both  how  to  hold  and  give,  sharing 
the  strains  among  them;  the  thrust-block  must  take 
the  push  of  the  screw,  etc.  The  cylinders  had  learned 
the  lesson  of  give  and  take ;  "  the  beams  and  frames 
and  floors  and  stringers  and  things  had  learned  how 
to  lock  down  and  lock  up  one  another  " ;  and  as  "  the 
ship  found  herself,"  all  the  talking  of  the  separate 
pieces  ceased,  melting  into  one  voice,  which  is  the  soul 
of  the  ship.  This  is  an  admirable  example  of  co- 
operating parts  of  a  working  whole.  In  the  sense  here 
used,  nature  has  "  found  herself."  Thing  and  element 
and  force  and  thought  mutually  react  and  re-enforce 
each  other.  It  is  a  whole  whose  meaning  is  present  in 
all  of  its  parts,  and  each  of  whose  parts  reflects  the 
purpose  of  the  whole.  Borrowing  the  idiom  of  the 
skipper :  "  It's  a  highly  complex  structure  o'  various 
conflictin'  strains,  wi'  tissues  that  must  give  an'  tak' 
according  to  its  personal  modulus  o'  elasteecity."  This 
all  seems  very  human  and  familiar.  The  personal  ele- 
ment seems  to  be  magnified.  But  the  more  the  cosmos 
is  studied,  whether  as  macrocosm  or  microcosm,  the 
more  "  we  come  to  understand  that  the  unity  which  we 
see  in  nature  is  that  kind  of  unity  which  the  mind 
recognizes  as  the  result  of  operations  similar  to  its  own ; 


106  Science  of  Education 

a  unity  which  consists  in  the  subordination  of  material, 
composition,  and  structure,  to  similar  aims  and  similar 
principles  of  action — not  something  outside  of  us,  some- 
thing on  which  we  can  look  down,  or  to  which  we  can 
look  up;  a  unity  of  organic  life — the  same  from  the 
lowest  animal  inhabiting  a  stagnant  pool  up  to  the  glori- 
ous mechanism  of  the  human  form,  a  common  unity 
of  adaptation  and  adjustment  up  to  life's  highest 
accomplishment  and  result — the  adjustments  known  as 
sensation,  perception,  consciousness,  and  thinking — an 
efficient  correspondence  between  the  impressions  of 
sense  and  certain  corresponding  realities  of  external 
nature.  This  direct  perception  of  the  necessity  of 
doing  one  thing  in  order  to  attain  another  thing  is  one 
of  the  highest  among  the  pread justed  harmonies  of 
nature."  *  The  conception  is  not  only  philosophically 
important  and  essential  to  reflection,  therefore,  but  has 
the  most  practical  bearings  upon  living.  There  is  not 
needed  the  mind  disciplined  in  the  schools  to  recognize 
its  import.  It  lies  on  the  surface  of  things,  and  belongs 
to  the  primary  lessons  of  the  race.  It  was  a  familiar 
thought  of  Emerson  that  "  this  perception  of  matter  is 
made  the  common  sense :  and  for  cause."  f  "  This,"  he 
says,  "  was  the  cradle,  this  the  go-cart  of  the  human 
child.  We  must  learn  the  homely  laws  of  fire  and  water ; 
we  must  feed,  wash,  plant,  build.  These  are  the  ends  of 
necessity,  and  first  in  the  order  of  nature.  Poverty, 
frost,  disease,  debt,  are  the  beadles  and  guardsmen  that 

•  Duke  of  Argyll.     "  Unity  of  Nature." 
f  Emerson.     "  Social  Aims." 


The  Instrument  of  Education         107 

hold  us  to  common  sense.  The  common  sense  that  does 
not  meddle  with  the  absolute,  but  takes  things  at  their 
word — things  as  they  are — believes  in  the  existence  of 
matter,  not  because  we  can  touch  it  or  conceive  of  it, 
but  because  it  agrees  with  ourselves,  and  the  universe 
does  not  jest  with  us,  but  is  in  earnest — this  is  the 
house  of  health  and  life.  .  .  .  Nature  is  an  enor- 
mous system,  but  in  mass  and  in  particle  curiously 
available  to  the  humblest  need  of  the  little  creature 
that  walks  the  earth." 

That  in  the  world  which  makes  it  to  be  knowable 
and  serviceable  is  its  rationality,  its  reasonableness, 
the  kinship  it  reveals  to  the  human,  adaptable,  resource- 
ful mind  of  man. 


CHAPTER 

THE  INSTRUMENT  OF  EDUCATION 

(Continued) 

THROUGHOUT  the  last  paragraph  has  gone  the  im- 
plication that  in  the  mind  also  which  makes  the 
world  to  be  knowable  is  its  rationality.  Here  man  and 
beast  are  poles  apart.  "  The  world,"  said  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  "  was  made  to  be  inhabited  by  beasts ;  but  to 
be  studied  and  contemplated  by  man:  this  is  the  hom- 
age we  pay  for  not  being  beasts."  The  human  mind 
classifies  and  values  its  experiences;  it  conserves  and 
idealizes  them;  it  compares  them  and  resolves  their 
implications;  it  holds  them  valid  for  prediction,  and 
plans  a  future  in  terms  of  their  promises.  If  mind 
were  not,  knowledge  would  cease  to  be.  As  the  eye 
exists  for  light  and  the  light  for  an  eye,  as  ear  and 
sound  are  correlative,  lung  and  air,  food  and  the  body, 
so  thing  and  thought  creations  exist  for  the  mind. 
"  Here  stretches  out  of  sight,  out  of  conception  even, 
this  vast  nature,  daunting,  bewildering,  but  all-pene- 
trable, all  self-similar — an  unbroken  unity — and  the 
mind  of  man  is  the  key  to  the  whole."  Contact  between 
the  two  is  the  point  of  beginning  or  continued  mental 
activity,  and  so  of  growth.  Nature  is  to  be  understood, 

108 


The  Instrument  of  Education          109 

not  merely  perceived.  Its  phenomena  are  subject  to 
explanation,  and  calculation,  and  prediction.  To  the 
resourceful  mind  its  forces  have  derived  uses  and 
meanings  hidden  from  rude  seeing.  Here  science  but 
reinforces  the  poet  who 

"  Finds  progress,  man's  distinctive  mark  alone, 
Not  God's,  and  not  the  beast's:  God  is;  they  are; 
Man  partly  is,  and  wholly  hopes  to  be," 

and  from  both  distinguishes  man  as 

"  Getting  increase  of  knowledge,  since  he  learns 
Because  he  lives,  which  is  to  be  a  man. ' ' 

To  the  unthinking  the  world  exists  as  crass  material 
only.  It  becomes  obstruction,  or  serves  the  ends  of 
barter,  of  provender,  and  woof.  The  unyielding  ele- 
ments are  met  with  repining  or  indifference  or  stoical 
ignorance.  Comfort  comes  from  an  environment  that 
metes  out  coveted  favors.  To  the  unthinking,  discom- 
fort justifies  murmur  if  not  revolt;  to  the  reflecting 
man,  both  comforts  and  discomforts  are  conditions  to 
be  studied,  understood,  and  explained.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  intelligence  every  phenomenon  of  nature  is  a 
question — it  suggests  the  possibility  of  an  answer,  and 
challenges  the  mind  for  interpretation.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  mind  to  know,  and,  knowing,  come  to  com- 
prehend that 

"There's  nothing  of  so  singular  nor  mean 
Condition  in  the  universe,  but  what 
It  doth  include,  and,  in  a  sort,  continue 


110  Science  of  Education 

The  fact  of  something  greater  than  itself. 

Nothing  is, 

But  by  the  having  been  of  something  else, 
Which  something  else,  the  cause  of  this  thing  here, 
Is,  in  its  turn,  the  effect  of  something  elsewhere. 
Thus  we  the  higher  in  the  lower  perceive; 
From  each  obtain  intelligence  of  all; 
And  find  in  all  the  consciousness  of  each." 

This  is  the  primary  vocation  of  the  mind,  to  trace 
the  thread  of  connection  and  dependence  among  things ; 
to  find  the  way,  and  why,  and  aim  of  each  in  the  whole 
as  universe ;  its  use  for  beauty  or  defence ;  its  value  in 
the  inventory  of  things;  what  man  means,  and  cloud; 
heat  and  the  ways  of  earth ;  the  ocean,  the  mountains, 
human  society,  industry,  and  leisure;  and  the  measure 
of  each  in  the  common  life  of  thing  and  soul.  This  is 
more  than  perception,  and  appeals  to  human  reason 
and  imagination.  It  involves  powers  of  inference  and 
deduction;  thinking  things  as  they  may  be,  but  other 
than  they  are ;  forming  notions  of  the  possible,  because 
reasonable.  That  in  the  mind  which  makes  the  world 
to  be  knowable  is  the  mind's  rationality;  its  power  of 
apprehending  unity  in  multiform  appearances ;  a  recog- 
nition of  the  individual  or  particular  as  representing 
a  type ;  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  what  is  more  and 
what  less  important  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of 
the  whole.  This  is  the  "  common  sense  "  referred  to; 
this  ability  to  know  things,  and  man,  their  meanings, 
and  how  to  use  them;  how  to  adapt  them  to  human 
needs,  each  and  all,  and  find  them  fit  to  enrich  the  life. 
It  is  the  human,  not  the  philosopher's  point  of  view, 


The  Instrument  of  Education         111 

the  man's,  not  the  beast's.  It  fixes  the  sphere  of  know- 
ing, and  hints  at  the  order  of  growth.  In  the  large, 
it  means  civilization ;  in  the  individual,  education.  It 
includes  not  doing  only,  but  intelligent  doing;  the  see- 
ing, and  hearing,  and  reading  that  have  solvent  mind 
behind  them.  "  From  the  beginning,"  says  Colonel 
Parker,*  "  man's  growth  and  development  have  utterly 
depended,  without  variation  or  shadow  of  turning,  upon 
his  search  for  God's  laws,  and  his  application  of  them 
when  found,"  and  that  "  the  leaf  and  flower,  the  mists 
and  clouds  that  tell  their  stories  of  the  far-off  ocean, 
the  pebble  on  the  beach,  and  the  coal  that  burns  in  the 
grate,  are,  in  themselves  and  their  causes,  revelations 
that  human  souls  are  capable  of  understanding.  .  .  . 
The  divine  energy  surrounds  man,  forms  his  environ- 
ment, and  acts  upon  him  with  unspeakable  power." 
But  it  comes  in  this  way  to  man  because  of  his  under- 
standing mind.  And  the  primary  purpose  of  the  school 
is  to  direct  this  human  solvency  upon  the  diverse  par- 
ticulars endowing  them  with  new  meaning.  The  ani- 
mal sees  not  so.  Like  the  animals,  "  man's  first  need 
is  merely  to  live;  his  next,  to  make  mere  life  divine." 

"  Blessed  art  thou,  O,  man,  at  thy  lowest, 
O,  thou  lord  of  the  hand  and  the  thought ! 

All  things  are  thine; 
All  things  combine 
In  a  strenuous  design 
To  make  thee  divine." 

*  Parker.     "  Talks  on  Pedagogics,"  pp.  150-151. 


112  Science  of  Education 

Now,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  mind,  education 
is  the  result  of  self-initiated  effort  to  apprehend  and 
employ  this  nature  to  its  own  uses.  From  the  point 
of  view  of  the  world  of  phenomena  and  action,  educa- 
tion is  occasioned  by  the  adaptation  and  ready  adjust- 
ment of  this  cosmic  thought  to  the  mind's  need.  "  It 
is  the  pupil's  own  free,  intelligent,  personal  effort  to 
learn,"  said  Dr.  Hinsdale,  "  that  is  the  constant  factor 
in  education."  It  is  the  ever  present,  aggressive,  and 
multiform  nature  impinging  upon  the  nerves  that 
arouse  the  mind  to  action,  asserts  another. 

In  their  respective  spheres  both  are  true.  Neither 
universe  is  efficient  for  either  knowledge  or  growth 
without  the  other.  Upon  the  surface  and  to  the  casual 
observer  mind  seems  to  be  the  active  factor,  and  the 
environing  complex  of  deed  and  occurrence  as  passive. 
Not  upon  the  surface  alone,  however,  but  in  the  thought 
of  the  philosopher  also,  of  whatever  school,  the  initia- 
tive of  the  learner  is  vital  and  ever-present.  "  Man 
differs  from  animals  in  many  respects,  but  in  none  so 
much  as  in  his  faculty  to  advance  or  hinder  the  forces 
that  work  for  or  against  his  own  development."  *  In 
both  the  individual  and  the  race  the  mind  is  more  than 
a  receiving  agent ;  through  both  experience  and  instinct 
it  is  an  active  and  often  conscious  factor  in  not  only 
selecting  but  excluding  the  raw  material  for  its  fur- 
nishing. Very  early  in  its  history  the  mind  comes  to 
see  what  it  wants  to  see,  and  hear  what  it  purposes  to 
use  and  enjoy,  and  group  its  experiences  in  a  more  or 
*  Edmond  Kelly.  "  Evolution  and  Effort,"  p.  37. 


The  Instrument  of  Education          113 

less  independent  way.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  eyes 
be  open  before  a  beautiful  landscape  in  order  to  enjoy 
it  or  understand  it;  there  is  needed  attention — a  posi- 
tive and  more  or  less  purposeful  bias  of  the  mind 
toward  it,  an  effort  of  the  will,  and  a  measure  of  con- 
scious holding  to  of  the  interest;  a  forceful,  aggressive 
gathering  to  one's  self  of  nature's  spread-out  attraction. 
The  processes  that  are  really  educative  imply  this  selec- 
tive exercise  of  mind,  rather  than  any  mere  drifting 
among  importunate  happenings,  or  taking  in  gross,  the 
dicta  of  the  printed  page,  or  following  without  question 
the  words  of  authority.  There  is  involved  a  sense  of 
free  initiative  in  dealing  with  these  external  phenom- 
ena, a  consciousness  of  the  mind  as  going  upon  a 
mission,  vitalized  with  some  original  intention,  as  op- 
posed to  the  apathy  or  mental  indifference  of  a  colorless 
laissez  faire.  Such  effort  is  accompanied  by  the  con- 
fidence that  comes  with  all  success  or  personal  mastery, 
a  belief  in  one's  self,  a  conscious  assurance  of  insights 
that  are  one's  own,  a  conviction  that  negatives  mere 
sufferance  or  the  dependent  trailing  after  another's 
testimony  or  bidding.  All  best  education  is  competi- 
tive, a  struggle  waged  by  the  mind  against  unworthy, 
or  false,  or  ugly  experiences,  aggressively  contending 
for  those  it  conceives  to  be  worth  while,  and  defending 
itself  against  the  solicitous  encroachments  of  ready- 
made  judgments,  the  wealth  of  interest  in  one's  environ- 
ments, the  discouragements  of  ignorance.  It  means, 
very  early  in  the  child's  life,  a  beginning  of  the  privi- 
lege and  the  habit  of  self-direction ;  making  excursions 


114  Science  of  Education 

in  the  field  of  truth  and  right  and  beauty  from  an 
inner  motive;  frequent  and,  in  time,  long-continued 
research,  as  against  the  unthinking  acceptance  of  an 
insistent  belief  or  theory  or  platform.  This  conception 
of  education  makes  provision  for  personal  aspiration, 
the  preference  of  the  individual  for  one  good  rather 
than  another,  for  one  interpretation  over  others,  and 
its  realization.  It  means,  in  a  measure,  the  conform- 
ing of  the  life,  rather  than  the  being  conformed.  In- 
terests are  thought  of,  not  as  chance  and  inert,  but 
positive  and  self-directed ;  in  the  main,  control  is  from 
within,  not  from  without.  An  emphasis  is  placed  upon 
purpose  and  alertness  as  against  aimlessness  and  slug- 
gishness. In  the  same  way,  deliberate  acts  are  preferred 
to  those  directed  by  impulse ;  and  a  right  disposition — 
a  conscious  active  attitude  of  the  mind — to  mere  capa- 
bility, however  great,  if  it  lack  the  push  of  a  strong 
intent.  Finally,  in  this  conception  of  education,  recog- 
nition is  accorded  to  the  substitution  of  abiding  aims 
for  present  and  transient  ones.  The  author  of  an  ad- 
mirable little  volume,  "  Evolution  and  Effort,"  *  quoted 
above,  says :  "  The  essential  difference  between  man  and 
beast  seems  to  consist  in  a  faculty  possessed  by  man  to 
abstain  from  present  pleasure  in  order  to  escape  a 
future  pain,  or  to  suffer  a  present  pain  in  order  to 
enjoy  a  future  pleasure."  This  is  the  principle  of 
providence  in  a  large  sense,  and  stands  for  a  whole- 
some initiative  and  self-direction.  In  a  religious  sense 
it  means  the  substitution  of  a  higher  good  for  a  lower, 
*  Edmond  Kelly.  "  Evolution  and  Effort,"  p.  29. 


The  Instrument  of  Education          115 

or  a  good  for  an  evil,  even  at  the  expense  of  real  or 
supposed  present  comfort;  in  the  economic  world  it  is 
opposed  to  prodigal  consumption  and  thriftless  ways; 
in  the  intellectual  life,  to  dawdling  and  dissipation  and 
pretense.  In  short,  not  only  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  mind,  but  in  the  terms  of  a  rational  pedagogy, 
the  mind's  initiative  is  an  essential  factor  in  all  learn- 
ing and  growth;  a  condition,  dynamic,  not  static; 
effort, — serious,  intelligent,  honest,  unremitting,  and  ex- 
tended effort,  not  apathy,  nor  yet  indifference.  Growth 
is  not  to  be  measured  in  terms  of  a  rich  and  attractive 
environment,  nor  the  learning  and  many  words  of  one's 
preceptor,  nor  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  one's 
family  life,  but  rather  by  his  reactions  upon  these. 

In  his  "  Mechanism  and  Personality,"  Dr.  Shoup 
groups  man's  acquisitions  in  two  classes:  (1)  those 
which  come  to  be  his,  subjectively  and  organically,  and 
(2)  those  which  come  to  be  his  objectively  and  arti- 
ficially. To  the  former  belong  strength  of  muscle, 
sagacity  of  mind,  decision  and  honesty  of  character; 
to  the  latter  may  be  assigned  wealth,  station,  honor, 
friends.  "  The  difference  between  the  two  classes,"  he 
continues,  "  is  like  that  between  fruit  actually  grow- 
ing upon  a  tree  and  the  tied-on  fruit  one  sees  at  Christ- 
mas-tide for  children.  Now  this  real  and  true  fruit 
of  mind  and  heart  and  will  can  be  had  in  no  way  but 
by  and  through  self-effort."  But  there  is  more  than  a 
modicum  of  truth  in  the  counter  proposition  also  that 
from  the  plane  of  the  phenomenal  world  education  is 
occasioned  from  without.  The  eye  is  fitted  to  receive 


116  Science  of  Education 

and  transmit  to  the  brain  the  waves  of  light,  and  the 
ear  those  of  sound,  the  olfactory  nerves  are  sensitive 
to  the  inward  moving  odoriferous  particles,  the  taste 
papillae  in  the  mouth  are  aroused  to  action  by  the 
presence  over  their  surfaces  of  flavor-bearing  solubles. 
Added  to  these  there  is  the  fruitful  sense  of  touch  and 
its  accompanying  minor  modifications.  The  senses  are 
so  many  open  avenues  between  an  infinitely  fluid  uni- 
verse driving  in  upon  them  and  the  sensitive  nervous 
system  where,  or  by  which,  or  in  terms  of  which,  im- 
pressions are  translated  into  forms  of  meaning.  The 
phenomena  beset  the  mind  on  every  hand.  Like  waves 
of  the  ocean  beating  upon  the  shore,  they  make  assault 
upon  the  mind,  often  unnoticed,  sometimes  compelling 
recognition,  always  leaving  marks  of  their  presence. 
Every  sense  is  subject  to  this  invasion.  Through  all 
waking  hours  the  attack  is  incessant.  Matter,  motion, 
and  force  constitute  a  universe  that  impinges  upon  the 
body  on  every  side  like  a  closely  fitting  atmosphere  of 
impressions  and  suggestions.  Often  their  phenomena 
coerce  attention.  "  That  the  sensibilities  are  com- 
pelled," says  Dr.  Shoup,  "  to  receive  whatever  is  im- 
pressed upon  them  by  stimuli,  without  the  possibility 
of  the  sensibilities  themselves  varying  their  reaction  in 
response  to  such  stimuli,  is  easily  seen.  In  a  given 
state  of  my  visual  organs,  and  with  my  eyes  fixed  upon 
a  page,  can  they  create  or  drive  away  the  characters 
which  I  see  ?  If  a  sharp  instrument  be  thrust  into  my 
flesh,  is  the  pain  of  my  making?  can  I  bid  it  begin  or 
cease  ?  ...  By  the  understanding,  too,  I  am  made 


The  Instrument  of  Education         117 

to  know  the  meaning  of  the  words  on  the  printed  page ; 
that  the  instrument  is  sharp  and  has  pierced  my  flesh; 
that  the  rose  has  an  agreeable  perfume — can  it  do  less 
or  more  ?  "  Add  to  this  the  human  environment  of 
association  and  books  and  art  and  human  ideals  and 
one's  own  inherited  biases,  that,  with  the  material  en- 
vironment, contends  for  place  among  the  mind's  inter- 
ests, and  one  easily  comes  to  think  that  what  the  mind 
really  does  attend  to,  and  the  forms  of  one's  growth, 
are  the  chance  effect  of  occasion  and  circumstance. 

Life  in  a  mountain  region,  having  little  contact  with 
the  outside  world,  simple  interests  and  provincial  cus- 
toms, not  only  reflects  different  social  and  personal 
conditions,  but  reveals  widely  different  results  of  cult- 
ure and  efficiency  from  those  attendant  upon  life  in  a 
populous  centre  of  manifold  conventional  codes  and 
abundant  means  and  leisure.  The  "  thrust "  of  a  busy 
life,  having  an  intense  and  varied  intellectual  and 
industrial  commerce,  is  both  more  direct  and  urgent 
than  that  of  the  shut-in  valley,  or  of  a  people  behind 
closed  doors.  That  the  influence  is  often  with  unper- 
ceived  effect  does  not  imply  that  there  is  no  effect 
Rural  quiet  and  city  clamor,  picturesque  landscapes 
and  mountainous  wastes,  world-wide  interests  and  shut- 
in  customs,  a  cultivated  environment  and  coarse  ways, 
diversity  of  industries  and  primitive  occupations,  a 
home  with  interesting  household  comradeships  and  the 
home  that  offers  only  a  place  to  stay — each  stimulates 
in  its  own  way,  and  the  opportunities  for  a  rich  intel- 
lectual and  moral  and  economic  life  differ  greatly.  A 


118  Science  of  Education 

meagre  environment  is  less  alluring.  The  strongest 
mind  even  waits  on  suggestion,  and  a  mendicant  nature 
easily  pauperizes  thought.  A  fertile  and  varied  life  of 
occurrence  and  achievement  stimulates  reaction. 

That  there  may  be  too  much  does  not  prove  that  there 
may  not  here  and  there  be  too  little,  or  an  environment 
of  the  wrong  sort,  or  badly  distributed.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that,  looked  at  from  without  the  mind,  it  easily 
appears  that,  whatever  may  be  the  personal  initiative, 
education  is  occasioned  by  the  incessant  bearing  down 
upon  the  senses  of  an  almost  infinitely  varied  and 
exigent  nature.  Through  a  sometimes  distressing  ex- 
perience the  mind  is  driven  to  defend  itself  against  the 
encroachment.  In  time  one  learns  to  be  selective,  ad- 
mitting some,  excluding  others ;  but  to  the  young,  for 
most  of  the  school  period,  the  enthusiasms  of  the  mind 
to  know  are  quite  equalled  by  the  enthusiasms  of  nature 
to  be  known.  "  Nature,"  writes  Emerson,  "  is  the 
incarnation  of  thought,  and  turns  to  thought  again. 
.  .  .  every  moment  instructs,  and  every  object;  for 
wisdom  is  infused  into  every  form.  It  has  been  poured 
into  us  as  blood ;  it  convulsed  us  as  pain ;  it  slid  into 
us  as  pleasure;  it  enveloped  us  in  dull,  melancholy 
days,  or  in  days  of  cheerful  labor;  and  we  did  not 
guess  its  essence  until  after  a  long  time." 

In  a  more  than  merely  figurative  sense  this  nature  is 
a  busybody,  and  looks  to  it  that  man's  mind  is  not  left 
unattended.  The  same  author  continues :  "  We  eat  the 
head  which  grows  in  the  field,  we  live  by  the  air  that 
blows  around  us,  and  we  are  poisoned  by  the  air  which 


The  Instrument  of  Education          119 

is  too  cold  or  too  hot,  too  dry  or  too  wet.  Time,  which 
shows  so  vacant,  indivisible,  and  divine  in  its  coming,  is 
slit  and  peddled  into  trifles  and  tatters.  A  door  is  to  be 
painted,  a  lock  to  be  repaired.  I  want  wood  or  oil  or 
meat  or  salt;  the  house  smokes  or  I  have  a  headache; 
then  the  tax,  and  an  affair  to  be  transacted  with  a  man 
without  heart  or  brains,  and  the  stinging  recollection 
of  an  injurious  or  awkward  word — these  eat  up  the 
hours.  .  .  .  We  are  instructed  by  these  petty  ex- 
periences which  usurp  the  hours  and  the  years."  And, 
on  a  later  page  of  the  same  essay,*  the  author  adds: 
"  The  child  with  his  sweet  pranks,  the  fool  of  his 
senses,  commanded  by  every  sight  and  sound,  without 
any  power  to  compare  or  rank  his  sensations,  aban- 
doned to  a  whistle  or  a  painted  chip,  to  lead  a  dragoon 
or  a  ginger-bread  dog,  individualizing  everything,  gen- 
eralizing nothing,  delighted  with  every  new  thing — lies 
down  at  night  overpowered  with  the  fatigue  which  the 
day  of  continual  petty  madness  has  incurred.  But 
nature  has  answered  her  purpose  with  the  curly  dim- 
pled lunatic.  She  has  tasked  every  faculty,  and  has 
secured  the  symmetrical  growth  of  his  bodily  frame — 
an  end  not  to  be  entrusted  to  any  care  less  perfect  than 
her  own."  Does  anyone  suppose  that  any  assignment 
of  tasks  in  an  unyielding  routine,  or  any  doing  from 
a  sense  of  duty,  could  have  inspired  from  the  outside 
more  fruitful  effort?  Is  the  effect  less  wholesome  be- 
cause the  child  is  led  on  instead  of  being  coerced,  or 
led  by  his  own  joy  in  the  chase  rather  than  for  an 

•  Emerson.  "Essay  on  Nature." 


120  Science  of  Education 

external  and  artificial  advantage?  Nature's  beckoning 
and  comradeship  are  not  less  in  evidence  than  her 
exacting  lessons  and  her  penalties.  From  the  objective 
world  every  step  in  the  education  of  the  child  is  occa- 
sioned from  without. 

It  need  scarcely  be  pointed  out  that  while  there  is 
this  opposition  of  the  inner  and  outer,  there  is  no  an- 
tagonism. In  all  of  its  uses  each  is  what  it  is  because 
of  the  other.  They  are  two  terms  of  one  series,  either 
of  which  may  be  considered  first,  according  to  the 
critic's  point  of  view.  They  are  mutually  adaptable 
in  a  marvellous  way. 

Once  more,  touching  this  second  of  the  four  funda- 
mentals in  the  idea  of  education :  the  change  is  an  ever- 
recurring  process  of  self -estrangement  and  the  return, 
a  process  by  which  the  mind  identifies  the  thought 
without  and  that  within  the  individual  experience.  In 
his  editorial  comments  upon  Rosenkranz's  treatment  of 
the  "  form  of  education,"  Dr.  Harris  *  says :  "  Self- 
estrangement  as  here  used  [by  Rosenkranz]  is  perhaps 
the  most  important  idea  in  the  philosophy  of  educa- 
tion." Dr.  Harris  explains  the  idea  by  recounting  the 
three  stages  in  education :  ( 1 )  the  undeveloped  mind — 
that  of  the  infant — wherein  nearly  all  is  potential,  and 
but  little  is  actualized;  (2)  self-estrangement,  wherein 
it  is  absorbed  in  the  observation  of  objects  around  it; 
(3)  the  discovery  of  laws  and  principles  (universality) 
in  external  nature,  which  it  finally  identifies  with 
reason,  the  spirit  becoming  at  home  in  nature.  This 

* Rosenkranz'fl  "Philosophy  of  Education,"  p.  27. 


The  Instrument  of  Education          121 

last  is  said  to  constitute  the  removal  of  the  estrange- 
ment The  author  himself  says :  "  All  culture,  what- 
ever may  be  its  special  purport,  must  pass  through 
these  two  stages — of  estrangement  and  its  removal. 
Culture  must  intensify  the  distinction  between  subject 
and  object,  or  that  of  immediateness,  though  it  has. 
again  to  absorb  this  distinction  into  itself." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  mental  life,  and  indeed  for 
some  years,  the  objects  and  movements  of  nature,  and 
the  motives  and  behavior  of  men,  the  significance  of  art, 
and  the  industries,  and  ideals,  seem  merely  external 
and  something  strange.  Their  nature  is  alien;  con- 
tact seems  only  an  accident.  The  mental  life  at  this 
stage  is  a  voyage  of  discovery.  Things  must  be  expe- 
rienced, tested,  and  used ;  other  persons,  their  achieve- 
ments and  ideals,  as  well.-  All  happenings  are  worked 
over  in  terms  of  the  knowing  and  enjoying  mind.  The 
spirit  within  is  met  by  a  kindred  spirit  without.  As 
he  daily  grows  in  an  understanding  of  himself,  so  he 
comes  to  understand  them.  They  are  capable  of  being 
understood.  The  outer  and  inner  are  found  to  be  of 
kin.  Things  are  no  longer  foreign.  Thoughts  are 
things  under  another  form.  Things  are  saturated  -with 
thought.  A  thing  would  cease  to  be  a  thing  if  it  had 
not  thought  to  give  it  meaning.  It  becomes  interesting 
as  it  is  found  to  be  explainable.  The  horizon  of  the 
mind's  understanding  is  extended.  There  arises  a 
growing  consciousness  that  all  happenings  and  doings 
have  meaning;  that  trees  and  trade  and  self  and  other 
selves  and  art  and  hope  and  belief,  society  and  history, 


122  Science  of  Education 

species  and  types,  all  stand  for  something,  and  are 
significant  of  facts,  or  a  fact,  larger  than  their  crude 
exhibitions,  and  of  a  nature  with  our  own,  because  of 
this  underlying  common  reasonableness. 

This  bald  statement  of  fact  is  given  poetic  setting  by 
Colonel  Realf  in  the  following  stanzas,  well  worth 
knowing : 

INDIRECTION 

Fair  are  the  flowers  and  the  children, 

but  their  subtle  suggestion  is  fairer; 
Bare  is  the  rose-burst  of  dawn, 

but  the  secret  that  clasps  it  is  rarer  ; 
Sweet  the  exultance  of  song, 

but  the  strain  that  precedes  it  is  sweeter ; 
And  never  was  poem  yet  writ, 

but  the  meaning  outmastered  the  meter. 

Never  a  daisy  that  grows, 

but  a  mystery  guideth  the  growing ; 
Never  a  river  that  flows, 

but  a  majesty  sceptres  the  flowing  ; 
Never  a  Shakespeare  that  soared, 

but  a  stronger  than  he  did  enfold  him ; 
Nor  ever  a  prophet  fortells, 

but  a  mightier  seer  hath  foretold  him. 

Great  are  the  symbols  of  being, 

but  that  which  is  symboled  is  greater ; 
Vast  the  creation  beheld, 

but  vaster  the  inward  Creator; 
Back  of  the  sound  broods  the  silence ; 

back  of  the  gift  stands  the  giving; 
Back  of  the  hand  that  receives 

thrill  the  sensitive  nerves  of  receiving. 


The  Instrument  of  Education          128 

Space  is  as  nothing  to  spirit ; 

the  deed  is  outdone  by  the  doing ; 
The  heart  of  the  wooer  is  warm, 

but  wanner  the  heart  of  the  wooing. 
And  up  from  the  pits  where  these  shiver, 

and  up  from  the  heights  where  those  shine, 
Twin  voices  and  shadows  float  starward  ; 

and  the  essence  of  life  is  divine. 

One  does  not  come  to  this  conception  directly  or  easily. 
The  idea  is  of  slow  growth,  but  the  growth  is  of  the 
nature  of  all  real  education,  and  compasses  the  process 
called  "  Self-estrangement  and  its  removal."  Herein 
is  to  be  found,  it  would  seem,  the  programme  for  all 
directed  education;  that  things  knowable  shall  be 
known  not  objectively  and  on  the  surface,  as  something 
barnacled  onto  the  life,  but  subjectively  and  through 
identifying  their  inner  reasons  with  those  of  the  mind. 
The  measure  of  his  attainment,  for  anyone,  is  not  what 
he  has  been  told,  not  what  he  holds  of  the  forms  into 
which  knowledge  has  been  stereotyped,  not  his  assur- 
ance even  of  the  authority  of  one  who  does  know;  but 
his  own  direct  or  indirect  insights  into  this  soul  of 
things  and  ideas;  this  first-hand  contact  of  the  intelli- 
gence within  and  that  without;  in  consciousness  and 
appropriation,  to  have  resolved  appearances  into  their 
meanings. 


CHAPTER  DC 
THE  MOTIVE  IN  EDUCATION 

3.  EDUCATION,  in  the  conception  here  offered,  pre- 
supposes, further,  an  internal  free  impulse  to  know 
and  grow.  Both  are  tendencies,  and  appear  in  what 
may,  in  a  pedagogical,  not  psychological,  sense,  be 
called  instinct.  They  assume  very  unlike  forms,  and 
are  constitutional  impulses  which,  in  varying  degrees, 
are  universal  to  childhood,  and  most  of  which,  in  one 
form  or  another,  persist  into  and  through  adult  years. 
By  writers  on  teaching  and  directed  education  such 
active  biases  are  very  properly  known  as  instincts,  and 
are  variously  inventoried. 

In  general,  instinct  is  defined  as  the  faculty  of  act- 
ing in  such  way  as  to  produce  fairly  uniform  results 
without  foresight  of  the  results.  Because  of  this  latter 
condition  the  action  is  called  "  blind."  Bascom  limits 
instinct  exclusively  to  physical  action;  and  most  psy- 
chologists, to  the  brute  animals.  James,  however, 
asserts  that  "  man  has  a  far  greater  variety  of  impulses 
than  any  lower  animal ;  and  any  one  of  these  impulses, 
taken  in  itself,  is  as  '  blind '  as  the  lowest  instinct  can 
be  " ;  and  again  he  says :  "  Man  possesses  all  the  im- 
pulses animals  have,  and  a  great  many  more."  Some 

124 


The  Motive  in  Education  125 

of  these  impulses  have  definite  educational  bearings, 
and  are  rich  in  meaning  for  the  teacher.  They  have 
become  promising  fields  for  investigation  by  child- 
study  enthusiasts.  It  is  not  the  present  purpose  to 
make  instincts  a  subject  of  inquiry,  nor  to  specify  their 
direct  relations  to  teaching,  but  to  discuss  the  signifi- 
cance of  typical  instincts  in  the  science  of  education. 

The  following  may  be  given  as  comprising  most  of 
those  that  are  generic  in  form  and  important  in  account- 
ing for  the  child's  development.  Categorically,  they 
include :  the  love  of  activity,  the  imitative  impulse,  the 
tendency  to  investigation,  the  gregarious  instinct,  love 
of  the  soil,  a  sense  of  rhythm,  and  the  faith  instinct. 
While  including  most  of  these,  Preyer  names  at  least 
three  others  that  do  not  readily  fall  into  either  of  the 
seven  classes  given — pugnacity,  the  hunting  instinct, 
and  the  dramatic  sense.  Sociability  and  shyness,  also 
mentioned  by  Preyer,  seem  to  be  only  modifications  of 
the  gregarious  instinct,  or  love  of,  regard  for,  society, 
noted  above.  So  of  fear.  Constructiveness  takes  its 
rise  probably  in  the  imitative  propensity.  The  seven 
named  seem  fairly  comprehensive  and  reasonably  dis- 
tinct. They  are  recorded  here  as  the  chief  pedagogical 
impulses  that  must  be  regarded  in  any  serious  consid- 
eration of  the  stages  of  which,  and  the  forces  in  terms 
of  which,  the  individual  or  the  race  conies  to  its  ma- 
turity. Each  is  deserving  of  some  consideration. 

Activity. — This  impulse  is  both  physical  and  mental, 
and,  on  its  active  side,  finds  expression  in  a  craving 
for  and  tendency  toward  the  exercise  of  function — 


126  Science  of  Education 

mere  exercise  of  function,  as  "  blind  "  as  any  instinct 
to  the  result  to  be  accomplished  in  the  organism,  but 
affording  pleasure  in  the  mere  doing  and  in  the  accom- 
panying achievements.  Naturally  in  the  earlier  years 
this  headlong  and  incessant  being-busy-at-any-and- 
everything  is  chiefly  physical.  The  muscles  crave  ex- 
ercise, the  bones  and  other  tissues  are  expanding,  and 
discover  an  uneasiness  that  demands  use,  and  use  to 
weariness.  It  is  a  period  of  growth,  and  every  cell 
and  every  organ  are  so  many  points  of  energy  of  horse- 
power pressure  seeking  an  outlet,  work  to  do.  But  the 
constitutional  joy  in  doing  is  mental  also.  To  be  on 
the  alert,  attentive  to  passing  interests,  intellectually 
foraging  in  regions  promisingly  fruitful,  quick  to  scent 
a  clue  or  meaning,  and  tireless  in  following  it  to  a 
finish — this  is  of  the  nature  of  the  pervasive  and  catholic 
instinct  of  activity. 

All  sound  teaching  practice  must  take  this  impulse 
into  account.  Once  aroused  and  properly  directed 
the  work  of  the  teacher  is  practically  done.  It  is 
an  important  factor  in  all  "  self-teaching."  In  the 
long  centuries  of  the  race's  existence  before  formal 
instruction  this  deep-seated,  organic  sense  of  crav- 
ing real  and  frequent  contact  with  nature  was  man's 
security — both  motive  and  guide.  It  remains  the 
teacher's  most  effective  ally  in  formal  education.  All 
effort  at  guidance  that  fails  to  regard  it  is  either  fruit- 
less or  mischievous.  In  all  growth  or  acquisition  or 
achievement  this  blind  impulse  to  activity  is  vital,  and 
a  comprehension  of  its  meanings  of  far-reaching  con- 


The  Motive  in  Education  127 

sequence  to  the  teacher.  It  re-enforces  every  suggestion 
of  the  class-room  and  is  the  measure  of  profit  in  every 
exercise.  It  is  as  if  every  unit  of  steam-force  intro- 
duced into  the  steam-chest  were  re-enforced  by  an  inner 
predisposition  of  the  piston  and  cylinder  to  do  just  the 
work  which  the  two  accomplished;  as  if  the  machine 
met  the  energy  more  than  half  way  in  some  common 
impulse.  This  the  mind  does;  its  feelers  are  out  and 
the  mind  is  on  the  hunt  for  any  interesting  appearance 
or  inviting  situation.  It  meets  nature  more  than  half 
way. 

The  aggressive,  vaguely  discriminating  impulse  to 
do,  to  make,  to  know,  and  to  enjoy  in  the  presence 
of  a  near-by,  many-sided,  and  stimulating  nature  mul- 
tiplies its  opportunities  amazingly.  To  the  degree  that 
he  possesses  it,  the  impulse  makes  every  child  an  orig- 
inal explorer,  a  naturalist  keeping  in  close  touch  with 
a  promising  environment,  if  perchance  some  of  its 
secrets  may  be  discovered;  each  day  on  a  new  expedi- 
tion, ever  alert,  eager  to  see,  and  use,  and  make  over, 
and  try  experiments,  and  test  his  powers ;  play  at  being 
somebody  or  something  else  than  he  is;  now  comrade 
to  the  beast,  and  now  his  master ;  doing,  thinking,  feel- 
ing, wondering,  for  sheer  joy  in  the  act.  This  living 
in  the  present,  a  ceaseless,  shapeful  activity,  accounts 
for  much  self-knowledge  and  self-mastery,  binds  up  a 
fund  of  experience,  is  provident  of  both  the  understand- 
ing and  the  heart,  and  furnishes  an  open  door  for  all 
teaching. 

Imitation. — This  is  not,  certainly,  a  simple  instinct, 


128  Science  of  Education 

but,  nevertheless,  a  well-defined  constitutional  impulse 
to  take  on  actions  in  consequence  of  seeing  them  per- 
formed; borrowing  postures  of  body  and  states  of 
mind ;  an  inspection  of  outside  conditions.  "  It  de- 
velops," says  Dr.  Harris,  "  on  the  one  hand,  into  habits 
or  customs  or  morals — and  this  is  the  will-side  of 
human  mind;  and  on  the  other  hand  it  develops  into 
perception,  memory,  ideas,  and  insights — this  being  the 
intellectual  side  of  mind."  Preyer  thinks  that  there 
is  present  always  a  voluntary  element.  Wundt  and 
Baldwin  and  some  others  regard  the  tendency  as  being, 
in  the  beginning,  at  least,  impulsive.  Certainly  voli- 
tion appears  very  soon  in  child  experience,  and  the 
imitation  with  which  the  teacher  is  concerned  is  more 
or  less  voluntary,  and  measurably  purposed.  It  means 
some  command  of  one's  organs  and  a  beginning  in  the 
control  of  their  functions. 

No  more  important  contribution  has  been  made  to 
genetic  psychology  than  this  reference  of  the  develop- 
ment of  willed  actions  to  the  early  and  persistently 
repeated  efforts  of  the  child  to  imitate  something.  It 
is  fruitful  of  suggestion  for  all  educational  movements, 
not  during  childhood  alone,  but  throughout  life. 

Aristotle  taught  that  "  man  is  the  most  imitative  of 
animals,  and  makes  his  first  steps  in  learning  by  aid  of 
imitation."  The  function  of  imitation  has  been  charac- 
terized as  "  the  key  to  educational  psychology."  This 
"  evolution  of  the  higher  faculties  out  of  the  lower," 
a  development  begun  in  imitative  acts,  Dr.  Harris 
regards  as  the  main  pedagogic  interest  in  psychology. 


The  Motive  in  Education  12§ 

It  stands  for  interest  at  first  hand,  personal  effort,  a 
sufficient  plasticity  to  take  up  into  one's  own  mind  the 
external  manifold,  suggestibility.  Speaking  of  the 
child,  Professor  James  says :  "  His  whole  educability, 
and  in  fact  the  whole  history  of  civilization,  depend 
on  this  trait,  which  his  strong  tendencies  to  rivalry, 
jealousy,  and  inquisitiveness  re-enforce."  In  much  the 
same  meaning,  Mr.  Thorndyke  says :  "  Progress  would 
be  inconceivably  slow  if  we  had  to  wait  for  each  indi- 
vidual to  invent  every  reform,  or  new  idea,  or  new 
method  for  himself."  But  this  is  not  necessary.  Theo- 
retically, and  in  varying  degrees,  by  imitation,  what- 
ever is  done  or  practised  by  the  few  or  many  in  one's 
surroundings  may  become  the  possession  of  each;  he 
may  "  repeat  for  himself  the  thinking  and  doing  and 
feeling  of  his  fellows,  and  so  enrich  his  own  life  by 
adding  to  it  the  lives  of  others."  The  process  is  one 
of  assimilation ;  and,  as  an  apprentice,  the  child  gradu- 
ally absorbs  the  master's  point  of  view,  his  handling 
of  affairs,  his  knowledge,  his  personal  attitude.  But 
as  true  imitation  is  the  act  of  rational,  self-active 
beings  only,  the  reaction  makes  the  act  copied  his  own. 
It  is  not  of  itself  a  self-surrender,  but  may  be,  generally 
is,  a  self-centred  assimilation  in  which  the  self  finds 
expression,  and  the  experience  becomes  such  as  to  lend 
itself  to  original  initiative. 

This  appears  to  be  the  case  in  the  imitation  that 
is  the  basis  of  contrivance  or  adjustment,  in  what  is 
called  practical  construction,  an  elementary  form 
of  the  practical  imagination.  It  is  evident  that  this 


130  Science  of  Education 

learning  how  to  do  things,  to  write,  or  sing,  or  eat, 
or  speak  in  public,  or  farm,  or  calculate,  or  observe, 
ia  made  through  imitation  a  means  of  discovering 
new  movements,  new  vocabularies,  new  arts,  new 
processes,  new  habits,  etc.  ^To  have  reproduced  well 
what  has  been  well  done  by  another,  and  many  times 
to  have  accomplished  this  feat,  not  because  one 
must,  but  because  one  chose  to  do  so,  makes  easier  the 
following  of  the  suggestions  of  one's  own  mind.  And 
this  is  the  initiative  that  makes  for  self-reliance.  All 
personal  improvement  implies  the  presence  of  personal 
effort  in  the  act;  and  to  the  degree  that  the  imitation 
is  spontaneous  or  interested,  and  not  forced,  the  im- 
pulse is  sane  and  wholesome.  It  has  a  large  field  for 
its  exercise  and  bears  far-reaching  consequences.  Pro- 
fessor Royce  sees  in  imitation  "  the  one  source  of  our 
whole  series  of  conscious  distinctions  between  subject 
and  object,  thought  and  truth,  deed  and  ideal,  impulse 
and  conscience,  inner  world  and  external  world  " ;  and 
through  it  Gabriel  Tarde  conceives  "  the  entire  social 
order  to  develop  from  individual  initiative."  The  idea 
has  come  into  rich  inheritance.  In  the  mind  of  the 
pedagogue,  not  less  than  the  psychologist,  the  movement 
stands  for  large  things. 

Mr.  Thorndyke,  previously  quoted,  mentions  three 
ways  of  learning:  (1)  by  trial  and  occasional  success; 
(2)  by  imitation,  the  model  being  either  directly  in- 
fluential or  working  to  direct  our  trials;  and  (3)  by 
getting  ideas,  i.e.,  from  explanations.  The  first  and 
second  are  often  combined,  and  the  process  chiefly  char- 


The  Motive  in  Education  131 

acterized  as  imitation.  The  third  way  is  a  distinctly 
rational  process,  and  belongs  to  man  as  man.  He  says : 
"  The  chief  difference  between  human  nature  and  dog 
and  cat  nature  is  that  man  has  the  idea  method  of 
learning."  But,  in  the  main,  one's  education  is,  in  a 
large  way,  a  process  belonging  to  one  or  the  other  of 
the  first  two  classes;  and,  probably,  in  both  of  them, 
the  factor  of  imitation  is  more  or  less  present.  The 
mind  is  suggestible.  And  imitation  has  been  described 
as  one  side  of  a  tendency  of  which  the  other  is  sugges- 
tion. "  When  one  sets  an  example  to  others,  and  it  is 
followed,  what  does  he  do  but  inoculate  them  with  the 
idea  of  doing  or  being  that  thing  ? "  For  there  is  in 
mind  a  very  evident  tendency  to  carry  out  any  move- 
ment vividly  suggested  at  the  moment.  So  sympathy, 
also,  is  an  auxiliary  of  imitation;  and  while  there  is 
more  or  less  pronounced  tendency  to  imitate  for  the 
sake  of  imitating,  or  in  mere  delight  at  testing  one's 
powers,  there  is  a  strengthened  "  tendency  to  imitate 
most  what  one  attends  to  most — probably  the  acts  of 
one  he  most  admires,"  or  loves  or  honors. 

This  somewhat  indiscriminate  tendency  to  reproduce 
in  one's  experience  what  one  sees  or  hears  or  feels  in 
one's  environments,  Mr.  Baldwin  calls  "  plastic  imita- 
tion," and  takes  "  to  represent  the  general  fact  of  that 
normal  suggestibility,  which  is  the  very  soul  of  our 
social  relationships  with  one  another."  It  is  the  pri- 
mary means  of  social  development,  the  faculty  by  which 
education  is  made  possible,  because  mind  is  sensitive  to 
its  environment  and  responsive  to  its  moods  and  mean- 


132  Science  of  Education 

ings;  in  no  sense  nor  degree  passively  helpless  and 
inert,  but  aggressively  assimilative  and  centripetal, 
interested,  and  acquisitive.  The  imitator  thus  becomes 
an  interpreter  of  what  he  sees  and  reproduces;  he  is 
at  once  dramatist  and  actor,  personating  in  his  own  life 
the  behavior  or  purposes  or  achievements  of  another. 
In  interested  imitations  are  the  beginnings  of  effort  and 
preference  and  self-direction.  Herein,  also,  is  one 
form  of  the  only  motive  in  the  learner  to  which  valid 
appeal  may  be  made  by  the  teacher.  As  re-enforcing 
the  general  instinct  of  activity,  imitation  is  a  powerful 
factor  in  all  education. 

Investigation. — In  popular  phrase,  the  child  is  curi- 
ous and  questioning.  Things  and  their  happenings, 
and  people,  their  doings  and  institutions,  and  his  own 
experiences,  are  interesting.  His  questioning  is  as 
impelling  and  not-to-be-escaped  as  his  imitativeness. 
"  I  count  nothing  human  alien  to  me,"  says  Professor 
James,  "  is  the  motto  of  each  individual  of  the  species." 
All  things  lend  themselves  to  his  pleased  scrutiny. 
But  investigation  carries  an  added  meaning.  It  stands 
for  a  more  or  less  critical  analysis  of  his  world  of  per- 
ception. In  its  formal  definition,  to  investigate  means 
"  to  follow  up,  step  by  step,  by  patient  inquiry  or  ob- 
servation; to  trace  or  track  mentally;  to  inquire  (in 
the  more  advanced  stages)  and  examine  into  with  care 
and  accuracy ;  to  find  out  by  careful  inquisition."  In 
the  higher  forms  investigation  is  known  as  study  and 
research;  sometimes  as  experiment.  In  all  essentials 
of  the  process,  however,  the  child  is  quite  as  investiga- 


The  Motive  in  Education  133 

tive  as  is  the  adult.  The  term  employed  is  generic  and 
names  a  constitutional  impulse.  It  is  more  than  mere 
observation,  which  is  often  rambling  and  unthinking. 
Indeed,  the  questioning,  interested  investigation  of  the 
normal  growing  mind  may  deteriorate  into  mere  look- 
ing and  gazing,  or  bewilderment,  through  the  discour- 
aging prohibitions  or  chidings  of  parents  and  teachers. 
The  impulse  represents  a  very  real  craving  of  the 
mind  to  understand,  as  far  as  it  may  be  able,  how  things 
come  to  be,  how  changes  are  brought  about,  why  per- 
sons behave  as  they  do,  the  names  of  things,  the  uses 
of  things  observed;  where  things  are  made,  and  grow, 
and  why,  and  how;  their  own  relation  to  these  things 
and  persons  and  comforts  and  pleasures.  This  is  the 
true  "  impulse  to  know."  Here  is  the  intellectual  point 
of  contact  between  mind  and  happening.  To  the  un- 
spoiled child  all  knowledge  is  attractive.  Nothing  that 
is  is  alien  to  his  interest.  It  all  exists  for  his  use  and 
enjoyment  What  can  he  do  with  it  ?  What  is  it  good 
for  ?  What  is  it  made  of  ?  Where  does  it  grow  ? 
Whose  is  it?  May  I  have  it?  are  questions  which  he 
is  continually  asking  of  himself  and  others.  They 
plead  for  free  commerce  with  a  world  whose  markets 
are  always  full.  He  is  like  a  conscious  magnet,  search- 
ing about  among  things  if  perchance  there  be  filings 
that  may  be  attracted  and  attached  to  itself.  His 
clothes  and  food  and  person;  his  own  thoughts;  the 
people  about  him  and  the  motives  of  their  behavior; 
earth,  water,  fire,  and  air ;  landscape  and  sky ;  occupa- 
tions and  play;  books  and  art;  his  lessons  and  exacting 


134  Science  of  Education 

codes — all  invite  explanation,  his  explanations,  and  a 
valuation  in  terms  of  his  understanding.  The  etymol- 
ogy of  the  term,  not  less  than  the  nature  of  the  impulse, 
precludes  scrappiness  and  mere  seeing ;  there  is  implied 
a  track,  and  the  successive  steps  in  following  it  to  an 
issue;  progress  along  a  line;  a  sequence  of  meanings; 
an  interpretation  of  something  in  terms  of  a  larger 
something.  It  is  the  mind's  process  of  inventorying 
the  world,  his  little  world,  the  world  that  reaches  him, 
and  of  the  effort  to  pigeon-hole  his  ideas  about  it. 

In  the  beginning  it  is  all  very  elementary ;  the  views 
are  naturally  all  partial  views,  and  most  of  them  dis- 
torted in  one  way  or  another,  and  some  of  the  expla- 
nations wrong  ones;  but  the  chase  is  exciting,  some 
true  game  is  taken,  and  the  hunter  nourished  and  en- 
couraged for  future  more  successful  ventures.  The 
impulse  is  the  basis  for  the  later,  true,  scientific  habit ; 
it  initiates  all  real  experiences,  and  accounts  for  and 
fixes  the  quality,  not  less  than  the  sum,  of  one's  usable 
knowledge.  It  is  the  one  motive  to  which  appeal  can 
always  be  made  by  teacher  or  parent.  It  may  not  be 
apparent  that  the  particular  child  cares  to  know  the 
things,  just  those  things  the  teacher  knows,  or  wants 
to  do  the  things  the  teacher  assigns.  But  there  are 
things,  both  to  be  known  and  to  be  done,  which  do 
attract  him.  What  is  really  necessary  to  be  known 
may  be  reached  through  reference  to  or  starting  from 
what  he  really  does  wish  to  know.  This  is  the  true 
incentive  in  schooling  to  both  knowledge  and  conduct. 
For  disorder  or  neglect  of  studies  the  pupil  may  be 


The  Motive  in  Education  135 

beaten  or  scolded  or  reproved ;  restraints  may  be  im- 
posed, or  privileges  withdrawn,  and,  maybe,  with  rea- 
son; but  they  are  not  incentives  to  either  learning  or 
goodness.  They  are  artificial,  absurdly  foreign  to 
purpose,  and  are  generally  mischievous.  To  stimulate 
and  guide  his  love  of  real  knowledge,  to  furnish  abun- 
dant opportunities  for  thinking  in  interesting  lines,  to 
accept  the  pupil's  point  of  view  as  the  one  from  which 
to  take  any  broader  or  truer  or  different  view,  to  see 
all,  even  the  most  desirable  interests,  as  hinging  upon 
his  interests,  is  to  reinforce  one's  teaching  by  one  of 
the  most  effective  agents  for  learning  in  the  reach  of 
the  school. 

As  this  impulse  underlies  the  analytic,  discriminat- 
ing process,  so  imitation  begins  the  constructive  habit. 
That  finds  parts  and  their  relation  to  the  wholes  of 
which  they  are  parts;  this  constructs  new  wholes  by 
the  combination  of  minor  units  already  known.  That 
is  analytic,  this  synthetic;  that  is  elementary,  this, 
derived.  But  both  are  constitutional  impulses,  and  are 
generative  of  important  developments.  The  one  is  ac- 
quisitive, the  other  formative.  The  one  regards  learning 
as  such;  the  other,  doing.  The  one  emphasizes  knowl- 
edge; the  other  its  organization.  Deprived  of  either, 
the  order  of  either  individual  or  social  growth  goes 
lame.  The  one  factor  which  appears  common  to  the 
two  is  the  personal  effort  implied.  There  are  salutary 
and  convenient  services  which  the  teacher  may  render, 
but  officious  interference  and  dictation  are  not  among 
them.  Guidance  may  come  from  without,  but  the  mo- 


136  Science  of  Education 

tive  must  come  from  within  the  child.  The  one  really 
constant  factor  in  whose  virtue  imitation  escapes  being 
a  manifestation  of  servile  dependence,  and  which  lends 
to  investigation  its  only  merit,  is  this  element  of  inter- 
nal endeavor,  begotten  of  one's  own  desire;  patient, 
confident,  unyielding  effort  to  realize  a  purpose.  The 
imitation  must  be  his  copy  of  another's  doing  or  hold- 
ing; the  investigation  his  scrutiny,  not  a  seeing  or 
thinking  through  borrowed  faculty.  Achievement  en- 
sues from  the  one,  insight  from  the  other;  but  they 
must  both  be  held  as  a  personal  possession,  not  some- 
thing barnacled  onto  the  life. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  MOTIVE  IN  EDUCATION  (Continued) 

The  Gregarious  Instinct. — It  is  not  easy  to  charac- 
terize in  a  word  the  impulse  meant  to  be  described 
under  this  heading.  Ward,  in  two  volumes,  undertakes 
to  show  that  man  is  not  naturally  a  social  animal, 
though  he  admits  that  "  before  there  were  any  arts  he 
may  have  been  gregarious."  And  Galton,*  from  a 
somewhat  extended  study  of  the  trait  among  animals 
(especially  cattle),  undeveloped  races,  and  contempo- 
rary western  civilizations,  concludes  that  gregarious- 
ness  is  almost  universal,  but  that  it  is  a  slavish  instinct 
and  is  a  quality  the  opposite  of  sociality.  Sully  holds 
that,  "  from  the  first,  children  are  social  beings." 
James,  and  most  of  the  psychologists,  concur  in  this 
opinion.  Probably  most  thinkers  agree  that,  in  gen- 
eral, the  members  of  all  species  of  both  animals  and 
men  tend  to  live  in  herds  or  communities — in  groups — 
either  from  fear,  a  sense  of  helpless  dependence,  or  for 
mutual  intercourse. 

The  term  gregarious  has  been  chosen  to  head  this 
paragraph  as  least  likely  to  be  misunderstood  by  the 
reader.  It  is  meant  to  cover  in  its  meaning  both 

*  Galton.     "  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,"  p.  68. 
137 


138  Science  of  Education 

helpful  and  dependent  relations.  In  their  several 
and  very  diverse  manifestations  these  are  far  more 
numerous  than  may  be  even  named  here.  They 
comprise  the  qualities  called  sociality,  sociability, 
sociableness,  companionableness,  neighborliness,  friend- 
liness, good  fellowship,  comradeship,  brotherhood,  phil- 
anthropy, benevolence,  love,  affection,  sympathy,  mutual 
regard,  etc.,  as  representing  the  mutually  agreeable 
relations  of  concord  and  co-operation;  i.e.,  social,  as 
distinguished  from  the  non-social  and  anti-social  feel- 
ings, which  are  also  social,  as  having  reference  to  group 
connections.  The  word  gregarious  is  meant  to  include 
also,  as  having  reference  to  human  associations  and  as 
taking  their  meaning  from  this  fact — shyness,  coyness, 
reserve,  diffidence,  timidity,  bashfulness,  fear,  anger, 
hatred,  antipathy,  malevolence,  rivalry,  etc. ;  and,  fur- 
ther, those  self-regarding  traits,  as  love  of  approbation, 
love  of  admiration,  self-complacency,  pride,  vanity, 
emulation,  etc.,  which  would  have  no  meaning  if  others 
were  not  taken  into  account. 

All  have  reference  to  other  and  kindred  beings,  and 
belong  to  persons  having  community  kinships.  As 
Professor  James  puts  it,  "  as  a  gregarious  animal,  man 
is  excited  both  by  the  absence  and  by  the  presence  of 
his  kind :  to  be  alone  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils."  He 
covets  companionship,  even  if  it  be  not  the  most  agree- 
able. Whatever  may  be  true  of  the  child  at  his  birth, 
it  is  safe  to  say  of  him,  when  a  few  months  have  given 
him  an  individuality,  a  conscious  sense  of  existence, 
that  he  craves  personal  relationships  with  his  fellows. 


The  Motive  in  Education  139 

There  grows  up  a  mutual  influence  of  all  and  sundry 
members  of  his  human  surroundings.  "  All  are  parts 
of  one  whole;  each  is  unavoidably  affected  by  every 
other;  we  are  bound  up  in  one  bundle  of  life  with  all 
men,  and  cannot  live  an  isolated  life  if  we  would ;  we 
influence  one  another,  whether  we  will  or  not;  and 
tend  unconsciously  to  draw  others  to  our  level,  and  are 
ourselves  drawn  toward  theirs.  We  joy  and  suffer 
together  whether  we  will  or  not,  and  grow  or  deterio- 
rate together."  *  In  this  very  real  sense  man  is  a 
social  being,  and  finds  not  unimportant  limitations  to 
his  functions  in  this  social  environment.  There  is 
apparent  in  his  nature  a  constitutional  bias  toward 
knowing,  enjoying,  and  using  this  human  environment 
that,  as  he  enters  into  its  experiences,  becomes  his 
larger  self.  It  is  intimately  a  part  of  his  own  being. 

In  this  love  of  society  there  are  two  well-defined 
phases,  according  as  the  impulse  is  self-regarding  or 
other-regarding.  The  practise  or  exercise  of  both  of 
these  by  not  only  the  child  but  the  adult  may  be  uncon- 
scious, and  the  end  to  be  attained  is  generally  so.  The 
self-regarding  companionships  rest  upon  a  liking  for 
others  to  the  end  that  the  claims  of  personal  satisfac- 
tion may  be  realized — maternal  satisfactions,  Mr.  Sully 
gives  as  an  example;  sex  gratifications,  attachment, 
fondness,  etc.  The  other-regarding  impulses  include 
sympathy,  as  a  generic  form,  fellow-feeling,  benevo- 
lence, humanity,  etc.  It  is  obvious  that  both  impulses 
are  factors  in  individual  development  and  in  efficiency. 

*  King.     "  The  Social  Consciousness,"  p.  13. 


140  Science  of  Education 

In  home  and  civic  life,  not  less  than  in  the  school  and 
in  formal  tuition,  the  presence  or  absence  of  these 
traits,  or  the  degree  to  which  they  are  present,  will 
determine  what  can  and  what  cannot  be  accomplished 
in  one  of  personal  efficiency,  individual  growth,  the 
endowments  of  culture,  and  civic  influence.  The 
teacher  has  need  to  know  these  traits  and  their  symp- 
toms "  as  a  book." 

For  the  further  present  purpose  the  social  relations, 
speaking  analytically,  may  be  classed  as  follows : 

(1)  There   is   the   influence   which   one   individual 
exerts  upon  another  or  other  individuals  taken  sepa- 
rately.    This  may  be  stimulating  or  the  reverse.     It 
may  be  wholesome  or  baneful.     It  may  be  self-regard- 
ing or  other-regarding.     It  may  be  intended,  as  in  the 
relations  between  teacher  and  pupil,  or  incidental  and 
unconscious,  as  among  children  in  play,  or,  generally, 
among  adults. 

(2)  There  is  the  influence  which  each  member  of 
the  group  receives  from  another  member.     Of  course 
the  quality  of  this  influence  would  be  subject  to  varia- 
tions as  is  that  under  (1). 

These  two  constitute  the  true  personal  relations,  as 
distinct  from  the  group  and  institutional  relations 
to  be  named  later.  This  influence  of  one  upon  one 
is  basic  and  antecedent  It  initiates  creeds  and  plat- 
forms and  policies  and  methods  and  philosophies. 
"  An  institution "  has  been  characterized  as  "  the 
lengthened  shadow  of  one  man."  History  takes  its 
rise  in  the  strong  man  whose  influence  has  perpetuated 


The  Motive  in  Education  141 

itself  among  many.  Inventions,  comforts,  codes,  and 
customs  bear  the  imprint,  from  the  beginning,  of  this 
personal  insight  and  personal  service.  Speaking  of 
imitation  as  a  factor  in  social  life,  Tarde  says  :*  "  It 
is  not  enough  to  recognize  the  imitative  character  of 
every  social  phenomenon.  I  go  further  and  maintain 
that  this  imitative  relation  was  not,  in  the  beginning, 
as  it  often  is  later,  a  connection  binding  one  individual 
to  a  confused  mass  of  men,  but  merely  a  relation  be- 
tween two  individuals,  one  of  whom,  the  child,  is  in 
process  of  being  introduced  into  the  social  life,  while 
the  other,  an  adult,  long  since  socialized,  serves  as  the 
child's  social  model.  As  we  advance  in  life,  it  is  true, 
we  are  often  governed  by  collective  and  impersonal 
models,  which  are  usually  not  consciously  chosen.  But 
before  we  speak,  think,  or  act  as  '  they  '  speak,  think,  or 
act  in  our  world,  we  begin  by  speaking,  thinking,  and 
acting  as  '  he  '  or  *  she '  does." 

Even  in  the  complex  life  of  the  present  day  the 
child  is  subject  to  this  personal  limitation.  In  all 
learning,  whether  purposed  or  incidental,  whatever 
other  factors  are  discernible,  this  touch  of  one  mind 
with  one  other  mind,  and  not  many  minds,  is  of  prime 
importance.  This  is  not  more  true  of  the  relations  of 
pupil  and  teacher  than  of  student  and  professor,  child 
and  parent,  pew  and  pulpit,  and  the  more  varied  com- 
panionships. The  effective  influence  is  the  personal 
one. 

(3)  But  added  to  these  more  distinctly  personal  re- 
*  Gabriel  Tarde.     "  Social  Laws  "  (trans,  by  H.  C.  Warren),  p.  44. 


142  Science  of  Education 

lations  there  are  the  group  conditions  of  the  individual 
life,  as  shown,  first,  in  the  influence  which  the  indi- 
vidual has  upon  the  group  or  local  community  of  which 
he  is  a  member. 

(4)  The  complement  of  this  influence  is  that  which 
the  group  has  upon  the  individual. 

"  Social  group  "  is  a  very  general  term.  As  used 
in  this  discussion  it  is  meant  to  exclude  those  perma- 
nent human  associations  that  are  known  as  institutions, 
and  to  include  all  other  social  bodies  except  the  chance 
throng.  There  may  be  much  or  little  organization,  and 
more  or  less  permanence.  Their  purpose  may  be  to 
reinforce  the  service  of  one  or  another  of  the  institu- 
tional organizations,  or  merely  to  satisfy  some  tempo- 
rary or  local  desire  of  the  constituent  units.  Among 
such  groups  may  be  mentioned  the  neighborhood  (as 
distinct  from  the  town  or  village  as  a  political  unit)  ; 
private  associations,  as  political  and  civil  organizations, 
law  and  order  leagues;  public  improvement  societies; 
trade  and  industrial  societies,  including  the  unions  of 
laborers  and  employers,  investment  and  promoting  part- 
nerships, commercial  and  engineering  ventures,  corpo- 
rations, great  and  small;  cultural  societies,  including 
the  familiar  church  adjuncts — young  people's  societies, 
missionary  circles,  charity  orders,  teaching  bodies,  etc. ; 
secular  and  civic  philanthropic  organizations ;  scientific, 
historical,  literary,  art,  and  other  cultural  societies,  and 
various  less  serious  clubs  and  circles  for  pastime  and 
pleasure.  Besides  these  there  are,  in  every  consider- 
able neighborhood,  the  several  social  sets,  coteries,  and 


The  Motive  in  Education  143 

familiar  circles — friends  who  are  brought  together  be- 
cause of  kindred  tastes  and  common  experiences. 

Now  between  these  group  aggregates  and  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  each  there  exist  such  relations  as 
are  competent  to  modify  both.  In  both  ways  the  reac- 
tions are  sometimes  very  marked.  It  was  a  familiar 
thought  with  Emerson  that  these  collateral  and  indirect 
relations  are  often  most  decisive.  He  said :  "  You  send 
your  boy  to  the  school-master;  but  it  is  the  children 
who  give  him  his  lessons."  Not  infrequently  the  neigh- 
borhood is  more  powerful,  for  good  or  evil,  than  the 
law  or  the  church ;  political  societies  make  and  unmake 
both  governments  and  men;  improvement  leagues  fix 
the  community's  reputation  and  attitude  toward  affairs ; 
the  opinions  of  every  laborer  and  every  employer  are 
more  or  less  determined  by  the  teaching  of  his  indus- 
trial organizations;  the  voluntary  cultural  societies 
constitute  an  important  element  in  the  lives  of  most 
men. 

In  addition  to  being  the  product  of  personal  effort 
and  intelligence,  every  such  organization  in  its  ad- 
ministration and  growth  reflects  the  influence  of  its 
members  severally.  It  affords  an  exercise-ground  for 
leadership,  stimulates  to  social  reactions,  and  invites 
thought.  By  an  alliance  with  his  fellows  the  individual 
is  made  over  in  various  ways. 

The  relation  is  significant  for  the  teacher.  A 
clique  of  children,  a  neighborhood  set,  a  room  class, 
or  a  school  population  taken  as  a  whole,  may  constitute 
a  group  as  here  described,  exercising  (apart  from 


144  Science  of  Education 

formal  lessons)  an  influence  upon  each  unit  of  the 
group  and  receiving  the  impress  of  every  one.  Even 
the  weak  and  negative  characters  share  in  fixing 
the  aggregate  and  average  standing  of  the  group.  One 
or  a  few  positive  tempers  in  a  class-room  may  fix 
the  disposition  of  the  entire  group.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  concerted  sentiment  of  loyalty  and  good 
sense  among  the  majority  of  a  class  can  set  at 
naught  the  machinations  of  the  most  turbulent  dis- 
turber. The  same  statement  is  equally  applicable  to 
group  relations  on  the  playground,  in  the  home,  and 
elsewhere.  The  individual  is,  in  manifold  ways,  influ- 
enced by,  and  in  turn  influences,  the  group  to  which 
he  belongs. 

Of  course  this  condition  of  mutual  dependence 
is  confined  to  no  age  or  class.  The  possible  com- 
plexity of  it  is  admirably  set  forth  by  Henderson* 
in  the  following  words :  "  The  citizen  belongs  to  a 
family  and  occupies  there  a  place  as  son,  husband,  or 
father.  He  attends  the  annual  meeting  of  the  family 
stock — the  Browns  or  Smiths,  the  descendants  of  some 
Norman  chief  or  pioneer  of  the  Mayflower.  He  gives 
receptions  to  his  neighbors,  although  the  companies 
are  composed  of  persons  of  many  different  families, 
churches,  and  parties,  just  because  they  are  neighbors 
and  friends.  He  may  be  a  banker  and  belong  to  a 
bankers'  club  in  the  city,  and  yet  as  director  or  stock- 
holder be  associated  with  twenty  corporations,  unions, 
and  mutual  benefit  organizations.  One  may  belong  to 

*  C.  B.  Henderson.     "  Social  Element*,"  p.  58. 


The  Motive  in  Education  145 

the  upper  four  hundred/  and  have  his  name  in  the 
Blue  Book  to  mark  his  social  rank.  He  may  also  have 
his  circle  of  congenial  friends  and  meet  regularly  with 
them  for  amusement  and  recreation.  If  you  touch  his 
philosophy  you  may  find  he  holds  with  Kantians  or 
Hegelians,  or  is  a  disciple  of  Spencer.  He  has  a  name 
in  politics  —  Republican,  Democrat,  or  Mugwump. 
When  he  goes  to  church  he  finds  that  a  democratic 
Hegelian  is  at  his  right,  a  single-tax  admirer  of  Words- 
worth is  on  his  left,  and  a  high-church  reader  of  Walter 
Scott  is  behind  him.  By  race  he  is  connected  with 
Irish  and  German  peoples;  his  mother-tongue  is  Eng- 
lish, and  he  has  acquired  French  and  Italian.  Thus  a 
single  citizen  may  be  so  variously  related  that  the 
threads  of  society  are  woven  into  his  inmost  soul,  and 
he  himself  serves  to  weave  a  thousand  others  into  the 
tapestry  of  the  community  life." 

But  certain  of  man's  social  relations  have  become  so 
fixed  in  the  social  organization  as  to  have  become  per- 
manently established  under  the  name  and  form  of  in- 
stitutions. These  are  the  family,  the  state,  the  church, 
the  school,  and  by  some  are  added  conventional  society 
and  industrial  orders.  They  possess  a  form  of  im- 
mortality as  transcending  the  life  of  the  individ- 
ual, and  give  place  to  another  set  of  social  relations 
that  are  vastly  important,  both  personally  and  his- 
torically. 

(5)  To  the  four  social  relations  already  named 
there  must  be  added  the  influence  which  the  individual 
exercises  upon  the  institution  and 


146  Science  of  Education 

(6)  The  influence  which  the  institution  has  upon 
the  individual. 

As  the  first  and  second  orders  named  are  the  primary 
personal  relations,  and  the  third  and  fourth  the  true 
social  relations,  so  five  and  six  constitute  the  distinctly 
historical  relations.  In  the  first  pair  are  the  roots  of 
biography;  in  the  second,  sociology  and  ethics;  in  the 
third,  history. 

History  has  to  do  with  human  conduct.  In  a  bor- 
rowed sense  only  is  the  term  applied  to  the  lives  of 
animals  or  the  changing  existence  of  things.  Its  ma- 
terial is  rational  doing,  not  mere  action,  and  so  takes 
hold  upon  conscious  living.  It  implies  purposive  effort 
and  its  achievements.  It  means  spirit  at  work,  and  at 
provident  work.  It  regards  human  living,  struggling, 
and  achieving,  and  its  records  are  man's  deeds.  But 
not  all  conduct  is  historical.  In  all  history  there  is 
understood  conduct  in  associated  relations.  It  is  not 
alone  what  man  has  done,  but  what  he  has  done  in 
conjunction  with  his  fellows.  The  record  of  narrowly 
personal  or  individual  doing  would  be  biography  in  an 
elementary  way,  but  not  history.  That  regards  the 
individual  as  an  individual ;  this,  as  one  of  many,  sus- 
taining active  relations  with  the  many.  In  this  conduct 
in  associated  relations  man  finds  and  expresses  one  of  his 
larger  selves.  It  transcends  individual  experience  and 
interests,  and  concerns  chiefly  ideas  that  have  become 
forces  in  the  life  of  groups  and  nascent  organizations. 
But  history  means  yet  more  than  human  conduct  in  as- 
sociated relations ;  it  has  regard  to  such  human  conduct 


The  Motive  in  Education  147 

as  has  worked  down  into  the  life  of  the  body  of  the 
people,  and  become  organic  as  institutions. 

These  institutions  have  been  called  above,  the 
family,  the  state,  the  church,  the  school,  and,  possibly, 
conventional  society  and  industrial  organization.  And 
the  third  group  of  human  relations  which  the  social 
instinct  has  worked  out  comprises  (5)  the  influence 
which  the  individual  directs  upon  the  institution,  and 
that  (6)  which  the  institution  imposes  upon  the  indi- 
vidual. The  power  of  each  institution  over  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  privileges  it  confers,  and  the  reactions 
of  each  individual  upon  the  institution  are  comprehen- 
sive and  vital.  Consideration  must  be  had  of  both 
youth  and  adults  as  not  only  conforming  to  existing 
ideals,  but  as  originating  or  stimulating  others ;  respect- 
ful of  tradition,  but  honest  with  one's  self;  assuming 
each  his  full  share  of  responsibility  for  the  integrity 
of  this  institutional  life;  loyal  as  a  citizen  in  civic 
affairs;  productive  and  provident  in  the  industrial 
body;  devout  and  tolerant  touching  the  high  ideals  of 
the  spirit;  an  effective  member  of  the  household;  con- 
siderate of  others'  rights  in  the  conventional  order; 
and,  by  one's  own  refinement  and  scholarship,  con- 
tributing to  the  general  culture. 

The  two  additional  phases  of  this  social  life  are  of 
less  significance  in  the  present  discussion,  and  need 
only  to  be  noted  here  to  complete  the  classification; 
these  are: 

(7)  The  influence  which  one  group  (see  paragraph 
4)  has  upon  the  institution,  and 


148  Science  of  Education 

(8)  The  influence  which  the  institution  has  upon 
the  group.  As  examples  of  the  former  may  be  named 
the  reactions  of  political  parties,  law  and  order  leagues, 
etc.,  upon  the  local  and  general  government;  the  wide- 
spread influence  of  voluntary  societies  for  learning  and 
research  upon  the  constitution  and  functions  of  the 
school;  the  aggressive  attitude  of  industrial  organiza- 
tions toward  legislation  and  civic  affairs;  and  the  re- 
inforcement of  the  teachings  of  the  church  by  associated 
lay  societies.  Under  the  latter  may  be  noted  the  foster- 
ing care  of  most  of  the  institutions  expended  upon  vol- 
untary bodies  organized  for  service  under  their  respec- 
tive codes.  "  The  freer  a  nation,  the  more  developed 
we  find  it  in  larger  and  smaller  spheres ;  and  the  more 
despotic  a  government  is,  the  more  actively  it  suppresses 
all  association."  * 

Throughout  this  discussion  it  must  have  become 
apparent  that  with  the  development  of  these  human 
relations  there  has  gone  along  in  the  individual  an  in- 
teresting and  a  fuller  recognition  of  others'  rights  and 
functions  as  set  over  against  his  own.  These,  in  their 
several  ways,  the  numerous  individuals  about  him 
whom,  as  individuals,  he  meets  and  with  whom  he  has 
intercourse  in  the  daily  routine — these  same  individ- 
uals, associated  in  groups  and  aggregates,  and  all  of 
them  organized  into  institutions,  become  his  larger 
selves,  to  whom  also  he  owes  allegiance.  The  "  doing 
unto  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  to  him  "  comes 

*  Dr.  Francis  Lieber.     "  On  Civil  Liberty,"  Chap.  xii. 


The  Motive  in  Education 

to  be  a  matter  not  of  his  heart  only,  but  of  the  common 
good,  in  whose  beneficence  he  also  shares. 

The  child  is  born  as  an  individual ;  he  must  grow  to 
be  a  person.  In  this  ever-present,  complex,  and  stren- 
uous social  environment  he  encounters  other  wills  simi- 
lar to  his  own,  contentions  equal  to  his  most  intelligent 
effort,  and  rights  that,  if  they  were  his,  would  be  valid 
for  contest.  He  learns  to  practise  concession,  and  be- 
comes considerate.  The  conception  is  often  forced  upon 
him  that  yielding  is  gain.  In  this  social  world  (which 
is  the  moral  world)  profit  comes  through  sharing,  not 
holding.  It  becomes  a  habit  first,  then  a  principle,  of 
his  life  to  have  regard  for  others.  Having  come  thus, 
in  his  daily  behavior,  habitually  to  take  others  into 
account,  he  has  relinquished  his  exclusive  individuality, 
and  becomes  a  person.  The  former  is  constitutional, 
the  latter  must  be  achieved.  But  it  is  one  of  the 
accepted  functions  of  directed  education  to  equip  the 
individual  by  both  knowledge  and  habit  to  participate 
in  the  life  of  the  several  institutions  in  terms  of  the 
codes  which  each  has  worked  out. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  MOTIVE  IN  EDUCATION  (Continued) 

Love  of  the  Soil. — This  seems  to  have  all  of  the 
characteristics  of  a  true  constitutional  impulse.  Under 
the  heading  is  to  be  considered,  not  so  much  the  child's 
love  of  soil  as  soil,  as  the  affinity  and  respect  for  stable 
and  localized  matter,  the  attachment  to  place  and  thing. 
But  soil  in  its  nature  and  uses  is  typical  of  both 
these  ideas.  It  stands  for  material  possession  and  kin- 
ships. Byron's  phrase,  "  half  dust,  half  deity,"  as 
characterizing  man,  is  not  less  true  in  terms  of  modern 
science  than  in  the  words  of  Moses  and  Solomon.  In 
any  event,  there  is  between  human  beings  and  the  earth 
home  a  sense  of  common  nature  that  claims  compan- 
ionship. 

It  is  believed  that  joy  in  the  out-door  life  is 
native  to  childhood  in  a  sense  in  which  that  in  the 
artificial  is  not  Speaking  generally,  interest,  an  attrac- 
tive interest,  in  the  arts  must  be  acquired.  Trees,  and 
forest,  and  stretches  of  landscape;  bodies  and  streams 
of  water;  plants;  the  native  animals;  the  storm,  rain, 
snow,  ice;  the  hillside,  rocks,  sand,  plastic  clay,  even 
mud;  swimming  in  nature's  pool;  coasting  on  the  hill- 
side ;  loitering  along  the  streams ;  fishing  in  the  brooks ; 

160 


The  Motive  in  Education  151 

hunting  game;  gathering  berries,  nuts,  and  fruits — 
nature's  store  of  them;  and  following  nature  through 
the  seasons,  breasting  the  weather's  inclemencies,  and 
courting  exposure;  rich  in  blood,  abundant  in  energy, 
happy  in  this  unrestrained,  many-sided,  continued-story 
sort  of  comradeship — what  artificial  regimen  can  equal 
it  as  a  feast  of  fun  and  friendship?  It  means  inter- 
course, and  not  appropriation.  It  means  learning,  with 
gift  and  leisure  accompaniments.  It  means  healthy 
effort  shaped  by  gladness,  not  protest. 

To  the  natural  mind,  unspoiled  by  an  excess  of  pre- 
scription, the  things  of  nature  easily  take  on  the  genius 
of  personality  that  meets  one  more  than  half-way.  The 
joys  of  this  converse  do  not  have  to  be  manufactured. 
Nature  is  herself  faculty,  and  can  do  things.  Without 
the  help  of  any  clumsy  hand,  the  soil  grows  an  abund- 
ant larder;  trees  blossom  and  fruit,  and  cover  them- 
selves; animals  have  their  defences  and  mutual  com- 
merce; the  landscape,  lavish  decorations;  the  soil  and 
water  of  a  thousand  slopes,  a  common  understanding; 
and  mountain  and  plain  and  sea  bear  in  their  capacious 
pockets  the  raw  materials  for  incessant  human  wants. 

This  untaught  joy  in  a  provident  and  prosperous 
nature  is  the  beginning  in  man  of  wholesome  uses  and 
satisfactions.  It  offers  one  of  the  safest  guarantees  of 
a  sound  and  serviceable  body,  and,  in  the  beginning, 
the  only  real  stimulus  to  thinking  and  artless  doing. 
In  the  early  days  of  the  chase,  and  of  flocks  and  herds, 
the  race  acquired  notions  of  property  as  attached  to  the 
person — personal  property.  With  the  settled  life  of 


152  Science  of  Education 

agricultural  society  man  became  first  attached  to  the 
soil  as  rooted  in  it.  He  began  to  have  a  local  habitation. 
One  corner  of  the  earth  at  least  was  his,  as  the  tree  has 
a  spot  for  its  own.  With  the  passing  of  the  nomadic 
habit  there  came  in  time  release  from  the  inconstant 
mind  also,  and  the  wayward  heart.  The  places  of  his 
abiding  became  man's  abode,  where  were  gathered  not 
the  members  of  the  household  only,  but  the  appur- 
tenances of  the  family  life,  tools  of  the  household  eco- 
nomics, the  beginnings  of  the  morrow's  prudence,  and 
a  sense  of  rights  in  the  soil.  And  there  grew  up  the 
conception  and  the  claim  of  real  property.  In  time, 
memories  of  struggle  and  achievement  clustered  about 
this  spot  of  ground.  It  had  personal  associations  and 
suggested  comfort  and  leisure.  Stores  of  providence 
gave  contentment,  and  years  of  household  co-operation 
gave  pleasure.  The  place  early  became  worthy  of  de- 
fence. It  was  his  home,  his  fireside. 

Out  of  some  such  conception  must  have  grown  the 
sentiment  of  patriotism.  He  was  ready  to  defend  his 
life  and,  if  need  be,  to  die  to  secure  his  people  and  his 
property  against  danger.  A  commonwealth  of  such 
householders  must  command  respect;  a  nation  of  such 
would  be  invincible.  Love  of  home  and  love  of  country 
are  two  sides  of  the  same  spiritual  fact.  The  soil  in 
which  this  idea  roots  itself  is  the  foundation  of  both 
impulses. 

In  the  child  the  instinct  appears  in  a  persistent 
interest  in  and  a  companionship  with  things,  the  things 
of  earth,  the  soil — nature's  great  manufacturing  plant, 


The  Motive  in  Education  153 

the  universal  stock-ranch  and  life-garden — where  things 
are  made  and  grow  and  are  exhibited.  It  appears  also 
in  his  desire  to  have  a  place,  and  tilings  of  the  place, 
for  his  very  own — a  corner  of  the  yard,  a  strip  of  gar- 
den, an  animal;  something  that  shall  satisfy  his  desire 
for  possession.  It  corresponds  with  his  love  of  out-door 
life,  and  his  barbarian  protest  against  confinement,  and 
the  interference  with  his  physical  freedom,  and  his  joy 
in  nature's  great  spaces  and  limitless  achievements. 

The  Sense  of  Rhythm. — Inasmuch  as  this  character- 
istic has  its  roots  in  the  material  atom  or  molecule,  and 
may  be  traced,  without  break,  through  all  material 
forms  and  existences  and  beings,  up  to  and  including 
the  pulsations  of  the  human  spirit,  it  seems  very  prob- 
able that  almost  no  other  instinct  is  more  universal. 
Besides,  it  is  basic  in  the  highest  activities.  The  most 
common  use  of  the  term,  perhaps,  is  when  applied  to 
music,  either  by  the  voice  or  the  instrument ;  and,  next, 
the  rhythm  of  movement  in  the  human  body,  as  in 
dancing,  gesture,  walking,  etc. 

Etymologically  the  word  means  "  flow "  or  "  cur- 
rent," and  in  time  came  to  imply  "  uniform  move- 
ment," hence  "  measured  movement,"  involving  pulses 
of  recurrent  stress;  in  both  speech  and  music,  what  is 
known  as  cadence;  in  vision,  pleasing,  restful  propor- 
tions of  light  and  shade,  harmony  of  colors ;  or  in  form, 
beauty  of  symmetry  and  gradation,  as  in  the  curve  of 
the  oval  or  circle;  in  music  and  poetry,  successions  of 
times  and  accents;  in  the  plastic  and  graphic  arts,  a 
balance  and  proportion  of  parts  with  reference  to  each 


154  Science  of  Education 

other  and  to  an  artistic  whole ;  in  physiological  organs, 
an  alternation  of  functioning  and  physics,  a  succession 
of  alternate  and  opposite  or  correlative  states.  The  term 
may  be  taken,  then,  to  connote  not  metre  and  cadence 
only,  but  the  multitudinous  periodicities  of  motion ;  the 
alternations  of  function ;  the  flow  and  ebb  of  the  mental 
life;  and  the  pulses  of  progress  and  relative  inactivity 
in  the  social  organism. 

Evolution  philosophy  is  saturated  with  the  concep- 
tions of  matter,  force,  and  motion;  the  probably  ulti- 
mate character  of  motion,  and  that  all  motion  is  rhyth- 
mical. And  as  illustrations  of  this  last  fact,  the  pages 
of  modern  science  cite  the  undulatory  movements  in 
light,  heat,  and  sound ;  the  oscillating  or  spiral  path  of 
falling  bodies  and  projectiles ;  the  rise  and  fall  of  tides ; 
the  billowing  of  the  ocean;  magnetic  variations,  mi- 
nutely calculable;  periodicities  in  the  earth's  changes; 
the  swing  of  the  pendulum;  alternating  currents  in 
electricity;  the  laws  and  interferences  of  circular  mo- 
tion, as  in  the  steam-engine;  the  merging  and  trans- 
formation of  currents  of  force  as  shown  in  periodic 
curves  in  graphics;  the  bumping  motion  of  a  rolling 
ball;  the  oscillations  of  a  moving  railway  train;  the 
tremble  of  striking  bodies,  as  the  swaying  of  a  building 
shaken  by  a  storm;  the  seismic  earth  motion  accom- 
panying an  earthquake;  the  regulated  recurrence  of 
light  and  darkness  and  of  the  seasons;  sleep  and  wak- 
ing; the  daily  growth  and  repose  of  many  flowers; 
periods  of  incubation,  gestation,  and  animal  breeding; 
the  conditioned  habits  of  hibernation  and  migration  \ 


The  Motive  in  Education  155 

the  well-established  facts  of  periodicities  in  insanity, 
suicide,  and  crime;  periods  of  rapid  and  slow  growth 
and  maturing  in  children ;  and  the  probably  rhythmical 
nature  of  nerve  actions  and  states  of  consciousness. 

These  are  selected  examples  only  of  many  that  might 
be  given  to  illustrate  the  applications  and  manifesta- 
tions of  the  rhythmical  principle.  Herbert  Spencer,* 
in  a  concise  summary — a  single  sentence — characterizes 
it  as  "  a  law  manifested  throughout  all  things  from  the 
inconceivably  rapid  oscillations  of  a  unit  of  ether  to 
the  secular  perturbations  of  the  solar  system ;  in  social 
phenomena,  from  the  hourly  rises  and  falls  of  the 
Stock  Exchange  prices  to  the  actions  and  reactions  of 
political  parties." 

In  the  individual,  as  might  be  expected,  this  sense 
of  rhythm  and  proportion  is,  in  varying  degrees  and 
in  different  forms,  clearly  manifest.  The  response  is 
sometimes  conscious,  sometimes  not.  But  everyone  is 
more  or  less  subject  to  its  influence.  Along  with  the 
rhythmic  motions  of  the  molecules  in  the  body,  perhaps 
as  a  consequence  of  those  motions,  "  the  scale  of  time 
for  each  individual,  each  creature,  is  derived  from  a 
consciousness  of  the  rhythm  of  its  vital  and  locomotive 
functions."  "  All  one's  life  is  music,"  said  Ruskin, 
"  if  one  touches  the  notes  rightly  and  in  time."  There 
is  a  daily  rise  and  fall  in  strength,  consequent  on  daily 
periodicities  of  repair  and  waste.  Passions  of  all  kinds 
appear  in  gushes  or  bursts.  Attention  is  discontinuous 
and  intermittent.  Any  one  organ  aroused  to  move- 
*  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  ii,  606. 


156  Science  of  Education 

ment  out  of  its  wont  gives  zest  to  other  movements.  In 
walking  there  is  what  has  been  called  locomotive 
rhythm,  that  requires  and  accompanies  the  co-ordinat- 
ing of  many  organs  and  the  alternating  of  the  lower 
limbs  in  movement. 

In  music  there  are  few  exceptions  to  the  recogni- 
tion and  appreciation  of  the  various  arid  pleasing 
sounds,  "  sweet  sounds,  voluminous  sounds,  and  combi- 
nations of  sounds  in  harmony  and  melody " ;  all  of 
which  appeals  to  this  sense  of  rhythm  and  is  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  it.  For  a  like  reason  in  the  rhyth- 
mic poem,  the  picturesque  landscape,  the  kaleido- 
scopic sunset,  the  beautiful  form,  there  is  a  pleased 
recognition  of  the  inner  proportion  and  the  resulting 
harmony.  To  the  same  category  Bain  refers  the  beau- 
ties of  order.  "  In  a  well-kept  house  or  shop  every- 
thing is  in  its  place;  there  are  fit  tools  and  facilities 
for  whatever  is  to  be  done;  all  the  appearances  are 
suggestive  of  such  fitness  and  facility;  although  it  may 
happen  that  the  reality  and  the  appearance  are  opposed. 
The  arts  of  cleanliness,  in  the  first  instance,  are  aimed 
at  the  removal  of  tilings  injurious  and  loathsome; 
going  a  step  farther,  they  impart  whiteness  of  surface, 
lustre,  brilliancy,  which  are  aesthetic  qualities.*  There 
is  in  it  all  a  sense  of  satisfying  adjustment  of  things 
and  their  uses,  not  less  than  their  appearance,  to  a 
higher  law  of  fitness. 

Everyone  can,  does,  express  rhythm  in  some  form. 
The  sphere  of  one's  appreciation  of  it  is  perhaps  wider. 

•Bain.     "Mental  Science,"  p.  299. 


The  Motive  in  Education  157 


In  both  senses,  however,  the  power  seems  to  be 
versal.  There  is  a  "  unifying  activity  of  feeling,"  and 
a  similar  tendency  among  ideas.  More  than  this, 
human  spirit  reveals  an  impulse  to  utter  itself,  and  so 
proportion  expression  to  experience,  which  is  only  an- 
other form  of  rhythmic  life.  Michael  Angelo,  when 
asked  the  secret  of  his  power  to  express  so  clearly  and 
marvellously  his  ideas  in  marble,  replied  that  "  he 
thought  and  kept  thinking  on  a  thing  until  his  hand 
kept  time  to  his  thought."  The  outer  takes  its  mean- 
ing from  the  inner,  not  the  inner  from  the  outer;  but 
the  two  are  kept  in  tune.  Each  takes  its  rhythm  from 
the  other,  and  so  has  meaning  in  terms  of  the  other. 
The  idea  finds  its  reason  for  being  in  its  fruition  — 
the  deed,  the  living,  the  service.  "  In  the  large  and 
true  sense  in  which  we  speak  of  the  rhythm  of  the 
spheres  or  the  rhythm  in  a  picture,  or  a  flower,  even, 
says  Miss  H.  Lindgren,  "  rhythm  defines  itself  as  the 
proportionate  reinforcement  of  an  idea."  And  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  native  sense  of  proportion,  or  fitness, 
or  order,  or  symmetry,  one  is  helping  on  the  impulse 
toward  not  the  coarser  only,  but  countless  finer  adjust- 
ments of  expression  and  thought,  conduct  and  ideal, 
art  and  reflection,  feeling  and  understanding,  self  and 
society,  right  and  expediency,  good  and  the  better. 

Everywhere  there  is  this  dual  relation,  and  both  life 
and  achievement  oscillate  between  the  two  poles.  Con- 
ception and  behavior,  not  less  than  molecule  and  star, 
are  rhythmic.  The  entire  essay,  "  Compensation,"  by 
Emerson,  is  a  commentary  upon  the  meaning  of  the 


158  Science  of  Education 

principle.  In  the  words  of  Emerson,  "  Every  act  re- 
wards itself,  or,  in  other  words,  integrates  itself  in  a 
twofold  manner ;  first,  in  the  thing  or  real  nature ; 
and,  secondly,  in  the  circumstances,  or  in  apparent 
nature." 

Now  every  child,  in  one  degree  or  another,  is  sus- 
ceptible of  this  generic  impulse.  And,  except  in  music, 
and  in  a  minor  and  technical  way  there,  no  account 
practically  is  token  of  it  in  the  schools.  Yet  in  the 
most  elementary  tasks,  and  throughout  the  years,  there 
are  involved  questions  of  economy  of  attention,  the  in- 
tegration and  waste  of  experiences,  periodicities  of 
physical  growth,  the  reactions  of  the  physical  and  men- 
tal stages  in  the  mental  life,  the  ebb  and  flow  of  motive, 
the  mutual  reinforcements  of  idea  and  expression,  rest 
and  exercise,  responsibility  and  easy  self -regarding  and 
law-abiding  actions. 

This  constitutional  impulse,  and  the  aptitude  for 
following  it  up,  are  factors  of  an  inner  motive  to  which 
the  teacher  may  safely  resort  in  both  example  and  pre- 
scription. Forms  that  are  beautiful  enough  to  be  sim- 
ple and  attractive,  melodies  that  touch  the  springs 
of  interest  and  sympathy,  poetry  that  grows  out  of  in- 
telligible, beautiful  human  experiences,  pictures  that 
humanize  and  soften  the  motives  to  action,  conduct 
that  exalts  duty  to  a  joy — should,  as  far  as  may  be, 
surround  the  child,  that  his  instinctive  sense  of  rhyth- 
mic doing  and  thinking  may  be  satisfied  and  his  daily 
living  be  keyed  to  his  finer,  not  coarser,  conceptions, 
to  his  ideals,  not  his  crude  efforts  only..  Along 


The  Motive  in  Education  159 

with  number  and  the  marvellous  compensations  of  nat- 
ure, the  teacher  is  justified  in  making  much  of  song 
and  story — songs  that  soothe  and  strengthen,  and  poetry 
that  refines  the  understanding;  stories  that  leave  hope 
and  interest,  according  to  one's  estimate  of  what  is 
good  and  worth  while;  and  a  daily  touch  with  speci- 
mens of  what  is  really  superior  in  graphics,  and  paint- 
ing, and  sculpture,  in  song  or  speech  or  conduct;  in 
heroism,  or  patience — in  some  unselfish  endeavor. 

Underlying  the  interest  in  these  is  a  form  of  the 
only  true  motive  to  which  appeal  may  be  made  in  teach- 
ing— the  effort  that  has  a  real  want  behind  it. 

The  Faith  Instinct. — The  term  is  not  meant  to  in- 
clude any  theological  meaning,  and,  incidentally  only, 
has  reference  to  the  feeling  of  moral  obligation,  or  sen- 
timent of  duty,  or  love  of  virtue.  These  have  for  their 
object  actions,  conduct,  one's  own  or  another's,  and 
have  to  do  with  actions  that  are  held  to  be  right  or 
wrong.  These  are  sentiments.  The  faith  referred  to 
is  a  native  bias  of  the  mind  that  marks  a  habit  of 
credence.  This  is  generic;  that,  specific.  This  has  to 
do  with  not  only  conduct,  but  with  things  and  their 
relations,  with  ideas  and  ideals,  with  institutions  and 
abiding  forces.  It  represents  the  mind's  trust  in  its 
own  experiences  and  in  the  environment  out  of  which 
they  originate.  It  names  the  mind's  attitude  of  trust, 
an  assured  resting  of  the  mind  upon  the  integrity  and 
valid  fact  and  principle  of  what  comes  to  it.  It  ex- 
plains intellectual  risk  and  venture  and  the  mind's 
hypothesis  in  explanation.  Among  the  more  important 


160  Science  of  Education 

manifestations  of  this  faith  instinct  may  be  noted  the 
following : 

Primarily  there  is  faith  in  the  functioning  of  the 
senses.  Whatever  the  idealist  may  teach,  there  is  a 
prevailing  confidence  that  what  one  seems  to  see  one 
does  see ;  that  the  eye  does  not  deceive  us,  that  the  nor- 
mal ear  reports  truly;  that  sensations  of  temperature 
and  weight  and  distance,  the  sweet  and  the  bitter,  of 
beauty  and  pain  and  comfort,  may  be  relied  upon  as 
valid  for  us  who  have  the  sensations.  Upon  these  and 
like  experiences  we  found  our  daily  goings  and  com- 
ings. Things  and  our  experience  of  them  are  com- 
mensurate elements  in  this  confidence.  The  same  char- 
acteristic of  mind  is  shown  in  our  relation  to  persons, 
"  a  sense  of  the  mental  and  moral  resemblance  of  all 
men."  There  is  confidence  in  their  like-mindedness 
with  ourselves;  that  co-operation  and  mutual  influence 
are  not  only  possible,  but  inevitable ;  that  though  some 
men  may  sometimes  deceive  about  some  things,  their 
words  and  their  behavior  may,  upon  the  whole,  be  de- 
pended upon — that  what  they  say  they  mean,  and  what 
they  promise  will  be  performed.  Often,  it  is  true,  this 
confidence  is  betrayed,  but  that  it  was  betrayed  implies 
that  there  was  confidence  that  was  subject  to  betrayal. 

This  would  seem  to  be  a  primary  fact  in  all  social 
relations.  All  economic  intercourse  rests  upon  it;  the 
trustworthiness  of  all  conventional  life;  the  confidence 
in  tradition  and  the  accumulations  of  knowledge ;  faith 
in  authority  and  personal  teachings.  There  is  faith  in 
the  promises  of  science.  The  arts  of  comfort  and 


The  Motive  in  Education  161 

manufacture  rest  upon  its  dicta.  Modes  of  lighting, 
heating,  communication,  transportation,  mechanical 
execution,  and  the  crude  or  artistic  manipulation  of 
materials,  exhibit  reliance  upon  the  unfailing  qualities 
of  texture  and  fibre  and  chemical  order.  Indeed,  it 
has  come  to  be  true  that,  whereas  an  ancient  supersti- 
tion was  the  almost  infallible  wisdom  of  the  priest,  a 
corresponding  modern  superstition  is  an  almost  equally 
unquestioning  faith  in  science  and  the  scientist.  All 
this  implies  a  working  confidence  in  the  efficiency  of 
knowledge;  that  abundant  experience,  and  a  store  of 
ready-made  explanations,  and  an  understanding  mind, 
are  regenerative  of  the  life.  This  is  particularly  true 
of  childhood,  and  follows  the  years  well  along  into 
adult  life.  It  accompanies  curiosity  and  every  inquisi- 
tive and  acquisitive  tendency.  It  colors  both  relief 
and  practice  with  reference  to  matters  of  learning,  and 
in  an  extreme  development  tends  to  idealize  scholar- 
ship. In  its  best  estate  it  means  a  wholesome  apprecia- 
tion of  the  knowing  sense,  an  even  and  satisfying  belief 
in  the  verities  of  what  is  known. 

In  this  same  category,  also,  is  implied  faith  in  one's 
ideals.  These  are  the  mind's  creations,  for  its  own 
beholding  and  use,  of  more  perfect  conditions  of  knowl- 
edge and  character  and  achievement  than  yet  exist; 
"  ideals  that  lie  midway  between  the  attainment  of  an 
end  and  the  mere  struggle  toward  it " ;  ideals  which 
are  expressed  in  art  and  poetry,  and  which  receive  their 
highest  embodiments  in  religious  faith;  ideals  of  hu- 
man character,  coveted  human  character,  beyond  even 


162  Science  of  Education 

human  achievement — but  ideals,  nevertheless,  for  per- 
sonal measurement  and  personal  effort  at  living  and 
achieving. 

Unless  above  himself  he  can 
Erect  himself,  how  poor  a  thing  is  man! 

His  nature  has  two  sides,  which  are  in  a  state  of  in- 
ternecine war.  On  the  one  hand,  there  is  the  immedi- 
ate experience  of  what  is  present  in  sense,  the  false 
emphasis  of  particular  facts,  the  besieging  of  Eye-gate 
and  Ear-gate  by  the  phenomena  of  the  outer  world, 
together  with  the  ever-pressing  requirements  of  the 
animal  life.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  "  still 
small  voice  "  of  the  ideal  which  bids  us  have  regard 
for  the  universal ;  which  tells  of  the  True,  the  Beauti- 
ful, and  the  Good ;  which  urges  the  mind  to  "  reject  the 
eyes,"  and  view  things,  rather,  "  under  the  form  of 
eternity."  Even  in  the  hypotheses  of  science,  there  is 
a  sense  and  a  consciousness  of  something  more  abiding 
than  what  appears  on  the  surface.  It  will  be  obvious, 
also,  to  the  reader  that  in  the  course  of  experience  this 
instinct  will  reveal  a  faith  in  the  supremacy  of  spir- 
itual interests — "  in  the  laws  and  customs  which  a 
community  establishes,  in  the  institutions  of  any  sort 
which  society  frames,  but  most  of  all  in  the  great  litera- 
tures of  the  world,"  which,  with  man's  acts  and  codes 
and  creeds,  are  mankind's  attempt  to  give  expression 
to  his  ideals  of  life  and  being. 

This  confidence  of  the  individual  in  his  companion- 
ships with  thing  and  personal  fellow  is  the  basis  of  his 


The  Motive  in  Education  163 

teachableness.  He  learns  in  a  measure,  through  his 
belief,  that  things  may  be  learned,  and  counsel  may  bo 
trusted,  and  joy  may  be  shared ;  that  what  the  race  has 
known  and  believed  may  content  him  also;  that  the 
universe  whose  nature  he  shares  is  dealing  fairly  with 
him.  This,  therefore,  along  with  the  other  instincts 
named,  constitutes  a  motive  to  which  legitimate  appeal 
may  be  made  by  the  teacher.  Indeed,  in  the  words 
heading  this  section,  the  constitutional  impulse  to  know 
and  to  grow  is  the  only  motive  in  education.  Punish- 
ment— physical  or  mental — privation,  prohibitions,  ex- 
ternally imposed  rules  of  behavior,  artificial  incentives 
and  rewards,  a  prescribed  fixed  order — may  all  be 
necessary  upon  occasions  and  for  the  accomplishment 
of  certain  results;  but  they  can  be  considered,  at  best, 
an  accidental  and  contingent  stimulus  only,  not  a  true 
motive.  The  wise  teacher  will  seek  to  arouse  the  child's 
own  initiative  through  an  approach  to  one  or  another 
of  his  constitutional  biases. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  CONDITION  IN  EDUCATION 

4.  Finally,  among  the  fundamentals  in  the  concep- 
tion of  education  here  presented,  there  are  presupposed 
time  and  the  accompanying  opportunities  for  develop- 
ment, as  the  only  condition  of  education.  "  Mind  dawns, 
grows,  mellows,  and  decays,"  says  Drummond.  "  This 
growing  is  gradual;  an  infinitely  gentle,  never  abrupt, 
unfolding — the  kind  of  growing  which,  in  every  other 
department  of  nature,  we  are  taught  to  associate  with 
evolution."  Its  maturing,  under  whatever  tutelage,  is 
a  process,  now  slow,  now  more  rapid,  a  progressive  de- 
velopment, whose  steps  severally,  by  stages,  and  in 
the  aggregate,  require  time.  It  repudiates  hot-house 
methods — over-feeding  and  over-stimulation,  not  less 
than  starving  and  neglect.  The  best  education  is  a  com- 
paratively slow  process.  The  poem,  "  Gradatim,"  by 
the  late  J.  G.  Holland,  gives  an  excellent  rendering  of 
the  thought: 

Heaven  is  not  reached  at  a  single  bound, 
But  we  build  the  ladder  by  which  we  rise 
From  the  lowly  earth  to  the  vaulted  skies, 

And  we  mount  to  its  summit  round  by  round. 
164 


The  Condition  in  Education  165 

We  rise  by  the  things  that  are  under  our  feet, 
By  what  we  have  mastered  of  good  or  gain; 
By  the  pride  deposed  and  the  passion  slain, 

And  the  vanquished  ills  that  we  hourly  meet. 

We  hope,  we  aspire,  we  resolve,  we  trust 
When  the  morning  calls  us  to  life  and  light; 
But  our  hearts  grow  weary  and,  ere  the  night, 

Our  lives  are  trailing  the  sordid  dust. 

Only  in  dreams  is  a  ladder  thrown 

From  the  weary  earth  to  the  sapphire  walls; 
But  the  dreams  depart  and  the  vision  falls, 

And  the  sleeper  awakes  on  his  pillow  of  stone. 

Heaven  is  not  reached  by  a  single  bound, 
But  we  build  the  ladder  by  which  we  rise 
From  the  lowly  earth  to  the  vaulted  skies, 

And  we  mount  to  its  summit  round  by  round. 

"  Growth  involves  conflict,  for  our  natural  develop- 
ment brings  out  all  sorts  of  impulses  that  need  shaping 
to  fit  them  to  their  place  in  the  world."  It  means  the 
taking  on  of  the  suitable  food  habit,  knowing  one's  body 
and  how  to  treat  it;  it  means  the  learning  of  the  things 
of  one's  environment,  there  as  well  as  here,  and  adjust- 
ing one's  self  to  their  possibilities  for  us;  it  means  con- 
forming to  rules  of  behavior  and  a  conventional  order 
that  are  largely  arbitrary,  and,  to  the  child  mind, 
vastly  complicated;  it  means  the  development  and  trim- 
ming and  training  of  a  group  of  more  or  less  trouble- 
some, but  necessary,  and  often  joy-giving  feelings  and 
emotions — particularly  the  forms  of  the  sympathetic 

*Oppenheim.     "Mental  Growth  and  Control,"  p.  3. 


166  Science  of  Education 

feelings,  joy,  grief,  anger,  fear,  sympathy,  pity,  con- 
sistency, and  pleasure  in  the  beautiful,  etc.  And  this 
is  true,  whether  the  consideration  be  of  the  undirected 
education  that  comes  of  the  free  intercourse  with  things 
or  persons,  or  from  the  purposed  activities  of  the  school 
and  the  home.  In  such  life-unfolding,  time  is  an  es- 
sential element. 

Speaking  technically,  the  spontaneous  and  uncer- 
tain perception  of  the  child  must  be  transformed  into 
the  intelligent  and  trained  and  critical  perceptions  of 
the  man;  the  spontaneous  and  more  or  less  mechani- 
cal memory  of  youth  into  the  rational  memory  of 
adult  and  philosophic  years;  knowledge  of  content 
enriched  by  knowledge  of  extent;  the  long  road  gone 
over  from  percept,  image,  and  reproduction,  to  con- 
cept and  constructive  imagination;  from  simple  isolated 
experiences,  to  cumulative  assimilation  and  appercep- 
tion; from  one's  individual  insular  self,  to  his  larger 
institutional  and  ideal  self;  from  the  narrow  interest  in 
what  pleases,  to  the  broader  interest  in  the  indifferent, 
but  world  important.  The  "  mother  thoughts  "  once 
planted,  require  time  for  their  maturing.  Mind  has  its 
seasons,  not  less  than  the  years.  Little  is  gained  by 
urging  a  child  beyond  its  normal  "  gait."  Much  is  lost 
by  delay  in  beginning,  or  neglect  in  stimulation.  In 
recitation,  the  teacher  should  remember  that  it  is  more 
important  that  pupils  should  be  aroused  to  mental  effort, 
and  a  wish  to  do,  and  to  do  at  their  best,  than  that  they 
should  be  brought  to  conform  to  any  sort  of  prompt  and 
frictionless  and  picturesque  school  machinery.  The 


The  Condition  in  Education  167 

recitation  should  serve  the  child's  need;  not  the  child, 
the  whim  of  any  martinet  procedure  of  a  hearer  of 
recitations. 

This  conception  repudiates  also  all  artificial  pre- 
scriptions and  impositions,  whether  of  courses  or 
methods;  and  emphasizes  the  importance  of  regarding 
the  mind's  spontaneous  and  self-approved  and  original 
interests;  and  the  necessity  of  converging  within  the 
field  of  its  sense-approaches  a  stock  of  appropriate  sense 
materials  and  incitements.  Given  a  meaningful  world, 
and,  in  it  and  a  part  of  it,  a  rational  creature  having 
affinities  with  it,  and  education  follows,  if  time  only  be 
granted;  this  is  the  one  condition. 

If  education  meant  the  accumulation  of  knowledge, 
merely,  or  chiefly,  the  importance  of  time  as  a  factor 
might  be  reduced  to  an  unimportant  minimum  by  im- 
proved methods.  But  the  mental  effect  of  right  edu- 
cational processes  is  in  the  nature  less  of  acquisition 
than  of  ripening,  maturing  and  mellowing;  or,  not  in- 
frequently, even  tempering  and  seasoning;  and,  more 
often,  habituation  and  accustoming;  or  assimilating  and 
adapting;  all  of  which  connote  qualitative  rather  than 
quantitative  changes.  For  such  effects,  time  is  requi- 
site. Indeed,  from  the  side  of  the  child's  need,  the 
policy  should  be  "  to  (wisely)  lose  time  ";  to  provide  for 
a  healthy,  abundant  growth,  accompanied  by  all  needed 
information  and  the  tools  of  learning,  rather  than  a 
store  of  information,  indifferent  to  the  maturing  prog- 
ress. In  most  businesses,  it  will  be  conceded,  maturity 
and  good  judgment,  and  the  ability  and  disposition  to 


168  Science  of  Education 

assume  and  honor  the  incident  responsibilities,  count 
for  more,  both  in  the  estimation  of  the  firm,  or  of  one's 
patrons,  and  for  one's  general  promotion,  than  do  much 
knowledge  and  a  store  of  skill.  The  craze  for  shorten- 
ing courses  takes  its  rise,  primarily,  in  a  supposed  ex- 
pediency; the  assumed  needs  of  business,  and  the  claims 
of  society  upon  the  individual,  hurrying  him  through 
his  school  preparations.  Often  it  is  no  better  than 
temporizing  with  life's  promises,  and  taking  a  minor 
good  for  a  larger,  because  that  offers  immediate  returns. 
For  this  reason,  all  too  often,  a  brief  course  of  train- 
ing is  substituted  for  an  education  that  would  require 
some  years ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  success  may  be  won  with 
skill  divorced  from  intelligence.  Information  is  wanted, 
and  information  of  just  the  kind  that  soonest  opens  the 
way  to  some  business.  All  hurry  in  education,  most 
"  short  cuts  "  to  an  occupation,  and  much  secondary 
training  that  is  narrowly  technical,  are  a  concession  to 
the  information  idea.  On  the  contrary,  if  interest 
centre  in  the  man  behind  the  workman;  in  successful- 
ness  rather  than  knack;  in  civic  efficiency  as  an  indis- 
pensable supplement  to  any  degree  of  industrial  effi- 
ciency; then  years,  and  the  conditions  for  a  cultivated 
maturing,  will  be  granted  a  larger  recognition  than 
now  too  often  happens.  Time  is  an  essential  factor  in 
all  growth ;  and  all  the  more  important  as  the  process  is 
conceived  to  be  one  of  real  education,  and  not  mere 
expertness  of  particular  achievement.  In  terms  of 
scholarship,  education  becomes  such  process  as  makes 
the  acquisition  and  masterful  possession  of  all  needful 


The  Condition  in  Education  169 

learning  sure ;  from  the  point  of  view  of  society,  it  seeks 
to  adjust  the  individual  to  an  intelligent  participation 
in  the  established  codes;  as  concerns  the  trades,  it  ac- 
companies the  best  available  culture  with  needed  skill — 
gives  efficiency  of  culture;  in  terms  of  morality,  it  is 
such  process  as  makes  for  worthy  ends;  in  terms  of  the 
state,  it  implies  civic  equipments  and  growth  in  per- 
sonality. 

From  such  views,  descriptive  and  critical,  of  the 
nature  and  bearing  of  this  process,  may  be  derived  the 
following  (provisional)  definitions  of  education. 

1.  Education  is  the  life  process  by  which  the  indi- 
vidual is  matured.     It  has  a  legitimate  correlative  in 
civilization,  which  names  the  process  by  which  society 
at  large,  or  the  race,  has  been  matured.    This  connotes 
"  growth  based  upon  exercise  with  appropriate  material ; 
the  exercise  being  given  for  the  purpose  of  the  growth, 
and  only  secondarily  for  the  sake  of  the  material." 

2.  Education  as  a  science  is  the  body  of  organized 
laws  or  principles,  in  accordance  with  which  this  process 
takes  place.     Both  the  processes  as  characterized  in  (1) 
and  the  science  as  defined  in  (2)  are  comprehensive  of 
both  school  and  non-school  movements.     The  view  is 
generic  and  compasses  all  maturing,  whether  directed 
or  contingent;  purposed  and  controlled,  or  evolutional. 

3.  Education  as  an  art  is  the  intelligent  direction  of 
this  process.    This,  again,  it  will  be  apparent,  is  wider 
than  the  school,  and  includes  all  purposed  guidance  that 
is  symmetrically  and  intelligently  conducted.     Practi- 


170  Science  of  Education 

cally  the  use  of  the  art  in  this  exact  sense  is  confined  to 
the  school  as  an  institution. 

4.  The  science  of  teaching  is  the  body  of  laws  or 
principles  in  accordance  with  which  the  intelligent  di- 
rection of  the  process  is  carried  on. 

The  logical  order  of  these  professional  knowledges 
obviously  would  be:  (1)  the  nature  of  the  educational 
process;  (2)  the  science  of  education;  (3)  the  science  of 
teaching;  and,  finally  (4),  the  art  of  teaching.  It  is  not 
supposed  that  the  lines  of  demarcation  between  any  two 
of  these,  as  to  sequence,  would  be  sharply  fixed ;  but,  in 
general,  the  meaning  of  any  one  of  them  must  be  found 
in  what  precedes.  Theoretically,  certain  of  the  Normal 
Schools  follow  this  order.  The  empirical  order  would 
be  practically  the  reverse  of  this,  and  for  an  elementary 
view  is  preferable,  perhaps.  But  it  must  be  considered 
that  no  teaching  is  rational  that  is  not  explainable  in 
terms  of  some  more  general  assumption  or  established 
principles.  The  teacher-student  may  profitably  follow 
the  chronological  or  empirical  order ;  the  teacher  at  his 
work  should  approach  his  task  with  more  or  less  of  the 
logical  insight.  The  former  is  likely  to  be  narrow,  but, 
in  ways,  efficient;  the  latter,  liberal,  but  critical.  The 
former  is  likely  to  emphasize  devices  and  temporary  re- 
sults; the  latter,  something  of  a  fixed  order  and  pre- 
scription. Nevertheless,  other  conditions  being  equal, 
the  enrichment  of  the  daily  practice  by  a  clear  insight 
into  the  essential  conditions  of  the  general  process,  dig- 
nifies the  service  of  the  school,  and  by  virtue  of  this  very 
emphasis  of  the  abidingly  good  and  the  universal. 


parr   tlno 
EDUCATION  AS  A  SCIENCE 


CHAPTER  XIH 
THE  NATURE  OF  SCIENCE 

ONE'S  conception  of  education  as  a  science  is  condi- 
tioned by  his  conception  of  the  nature  of  science. 

It  is  frequently  asserted  that  common  knowledge 
made  more  precise,  more  extensive  and  more  systematic 
is  what  is  meant  by  science.  Mr.  Huxley,  than  whom 
no  modern  teacher  has  been  more  facile  in  the  use 
of  the  scientific  method,  wrote  *  many  years  ago :  "  Sci- 
ence is  trained  and  organized  common-sense — differing 
from  the  latter  only  as  the  veteran  may  differ  from 
the  raw  recruit;  and  its  methods  differ  from  those  of 
common-sense  only  so  far  as  the  guardsman's  cut  and 
thrust  differ  from  the  manner  in  which  a  savage  wields 
his  club.  .  .  .  The  sword  exercise  is  only  the  hew- 
ing and  poking  of  the  clubman,  developed  and  per- 
fected." With  much  the  same  meaning,  Mr.  Lewes 
says :  f  "  Science  is  the  systematization  of  our  experi- 
ences; it  is  common-sense  methodized  and  generalized." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  uniformly  all  authori- 
ties agree  in  identifying  the  beginnings  of  science  with 
the  common,  thoughtful  experience.  The  raw  material 

*T.  H.  Huxley.     "Lay  Sermons  and  Addresses,"  p.  77. 

f  George  H.  Lewes.    "  The  Study  of  Psychology,"  p.  49. 

173 


174  Science  of  Education 

of  the  one  is  the  product  of  the  common-sense  of  man- 
kind. Many  of  the  conclusions  of  the  untrained  ob- 
server went  astray,  and  still  go  astray;  but  many  of 
them,  also,  came  to  honor  and  general  confidence.  The 
knowledge,  the  sure,  often  predictive  knowledge,  which 
the  farmer,  or  the  ranchman,  or  the  sailor  has  of  the 
weather;  or  the  merchant,  of  times  and  seasons  and 
popular  whims;  or  the  housewife,  of  the  quality  of 
stuffs  and  their  values;  or  the  forester,  of  lumber  prod- 
ucts in  the  tree;  or  the  miner,  of  hidden  ores;  is  just 
the  knowledge  that  has  made  possible  the  sciences  of 
meteorology,  trade  economics,  wood  mechanics  and  min- 
ing. Similar  relations  may  be  affirmed  of  lay  and  pro- 
fessional insights  into  law,  and  medical  treatment,  and 
government,  and  public  policies,  and  ethical  conduct, 
and  the  fine  arts.  The  judgments  of  the  artisan  and 
the  citizen  are  often  fairly  reliable.  The  same  obser- 
vation would  apply  equally  to  the  lay  estimate  concern- 
ing schools  and  schooling  and  the  educational  product. 
The  scientific  dictum  in  each  case  is  the  more  reliable, 
chiefly  because  it  rests  upon  observations  that  are  more 
accurate  and  more  comprehensive;  in  part,  more  accu- 
rate because  more  comprehensive. 

Primarily,  scientific  knowledge  assumes  to  have  cov- 
ered every  important  detail  of  the  set  of  phenomena  to 
be  observed.  In  this  respect,  common  knowledge  is 
vague  and  partial;  vague  often  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
partial:  sometimes  neglecting,  or  ignorantly  reject- 
ing phenomena  which  the  more  careful  observer  has 
found  to  be  important.  In  part,  the  carefulness  of  the 


The  Nature  of  Science  175 

observation  consists  in  the  fact  that  no  details  are  per- 
mitted to  be  disregarded,  lest  some  or  all  of  them  may 
be  important.  Real  causes,  or  the  determining  factors 
of  phenomena  may  not,  generally  do  not,  lie  upon  the 
surface.  They  may  escape  notice.  The  resulting 
knowledge  is  not  only  unreliable;  it  is  vague.  Action 
based  upon  it  is  uncertain.  It  leads  to  more  or  less 
random  supposition  and  mere  guessing,  the  groping  of 
fancy — not  the  intelligent  working  upon  deliberate 
hypothesis.  Such  knowledge  is  vague,  in  the  sense  of 
being  obscure,  its  meaning  ambiguous,  and  its  authority 
wavering.  Scientific  knowledge,  comprising  facts  that 
have  really  been  verified  in  experience,  speaks  with  no 
uncertain  sound.  Conclusions  may  be  wrong,  but  they 
are  clear. 

In  addition  to  being  general  and  dim,  common 
knowledge  is  also  indefinite,  as  compared  with  scien- 
tific knowledge,  which  is  accurate  and  exact.  The 
conclusions  of  the  latter  may  be  acted  upon  with  as- 
surance. Forces  and  changes  are  measured  and 
valued.  Conditions  are  counted  and  compared.  Uni- 
form scales  are  employed,  and  instruments  and  stand- 
ards. Science  thus  becomes  accurate  and  predictive. 
Common  observation  discovers  variations  in  tempera- 
ture, and  in  the  quality  of  soils,  and  forms  of  water, 
and  movements  of  the  air;  and  thai  food  for  beast 
and  man  differ  in  nutritive  qualities;  and  that  trees 
have  a  flow  of  their  juices  in  the  spring,  etc. ;  but 
science  is  able  to  answer  for  each  one,  the  how  or  the 
why,  or  both,  and  with  such  precision  as  to  give  assur- 


176  Science  of  Education 

ances  of  practical  as  well  as  theoretical  trustworthiness. 
Thermometers,  and  soil  laboratories,  and  hygrometers, 
and  dietetic  analysis,  and  microscopes,  make  exact  con- 
clusions and  tests  among  these  changes  possible.  To  be 
scientific,  knowledge  must  be  exact  as  well  as  compre- 
hensive. As  an  accompaniment,  and  an  absolutely 
necessary  accompaniment  of  a  science  there  is  a  corre- 
sponding body  of  technical  terms.  Each  important  fact 
is  named,  together  with  its  implications  and  relations. 
Says  Everett,*  "  It  [science]  must  have  a  name  for 
everything — some  fixed,  hard  word,  that  shall  stand 
for  this  one  thing  and  for  nothing  else.  .  .  .  This 
terminology  is  an  essential  element  of  science.  It  is 
the  record  of  its  analyses  and  its  discoveries."  The  no- 
menclature is  a  monumental  sign  of  its  painstaking  accu- 
racy. So  much  discrimination,  so  much  naming;  with- 
out this,  the  discrimination  would  vanish;  without  that, 
the  terminology  would  be  meaningless.  Science  is  in- 
dividual and  direct,  eschewing  mere  description  and 
indiscriminate  sketches.  It  looks  to  precision  of  facts, 
and  an  adequate  characterization.  The  unsatisfactory 
character  of  much  current  educational  theory  is  fore- 
shadowed in  the  conflicting  and  shadowy  meanings  of 
many  of  the  terms  used. 

Once  more,  science  concerns  itself  with  the  truth 
about  matters,  not  with  one's  impression  about  them. 
It  is  impersonal.  As  far  as  it  is  a  true  science  it  rep- 
resents what  and  how  and  why  things  are  as  they  are, 
indifferent  to  whether  the  what  and  the  how  and  the 
*  C.  C.  Everett.  "  The  Science  of  Thought,"  p.  304. 


The  Nature  of  Science  177 

why  are  as  they  were  supposed  to  be  or  not.  It  con- 
templates the  elimination  of  human  prejudice  and  per- 
sonal preferences,  and  hindering  convictions,  and  inapt 
hypotheses,  as  endangering  either  the  faithful  observa- 
tion or  the  reasonable  interpretation,  or  both.  In  its 
acquisitions  and  its  organization,  science  is  indifferent  to 
sentiment  and  personal  wishes.  Its  material  is  truth,  and 
only  truth,  however  it  may  afterward  be  used  or  distorted. 
In  no  other  field  is  the  observer  so  likely  to  in- 
ject into  his  studies  his  prejudgments  as  among  liv- 
ing forms ;  and  most  of  all  on  the  higher  levels.  Else- 
where in  this  volume  it  has  been  shown  that  man's 
study  and  interpretation  of  animal  traits  are  in  danger 
of  perversion,  both  from  conceding  to  them  now  too 
much  and  again  too  little  of  the  human  faculty. 
Knowledge  to  be  scientific  must  hold  itself  above  human 
(personal)  prejudices.  This  applies,  as  will  be  elab- 
orated elsewhere,  to  the  adult's  estimate  of  the  child; 
to  civilization's  estimate  of  primitive  races;  to  the 
mutual  misjudgments  of  culture  and  skill;  to  church 
and  pew;  to  capital  and  labor;  to  the  artisan  and  artist; 
to  urban  and  rustic;  to  Occident  and  Orient;  to  Cau- 
casian and  negro,  as  to  man  and  monkey,  or  man  and 
cabbage,  or  clod,  or  cloud.  He  who  has  learned  how 
to  see,  and  to  report  with  fidelity  what  he  sees,  neither 
more  nor  less,  has  taken  a  long  step  toward  an  easy  in- 
terpretation of  the  product  of  his  seeing.  Expectation, 
and  hypothesis,  and  tradition,  and  previous  teaching 
will  furnish  wholesome  incentive,  and  give  direction  to 
one's  inquiries;  but  must  not  control  them.  SciencQ 


178  Science  of  Education 

must  be  held  superior  to  personal  bias,  and  honor  truth 
for  its  own  sake. 

Science  has  been  represented  as  employing  two 
methods  of  grouping  and  labelling  phenomena,  or  the 
facts  of  knowledge:  first,  definition;  and,  second,  clas- 
sification. By  the  first  we  have  mutually  exclusive 
classes;  by  the  second,  groups  inclusive  of  essential  qual- 
ities. In  the  physical  sciences,  including  mathematical, 
molecular,  structural  and  etheral  physics,  because  of 
the  less  complex  phenomena,  the  former  is  particularly 
applicable.  In  the  so-called  Natural  History  sciences 
the  latter  prevails.  Of  this  type-grouping,  Dr.  Whewell 
affirms:*  "The  class  is  steadily  fixed,  though  not  pre- 
cisely limited;  it  is  given,  though  not  circumscribed; 
it  ts  determined,  not  by  a  boundary  line  without,  but  by 
a  central  point  within;  not  by  what  it  strictly  excludes, 
but  by  what  it  eminently  includes;  by  an  example,  and 
not  by  a  precept ;  in  short,  instead  of  Definition,  we  have 
a  Type  for  our  director.  A  type  is  an  example  of  any 
class,  a  species  of  a  genus,  which  is  considered  as  emi- 
nently possessing  the  characters  of  the  class." 

Now,  Professor  Huxley  f  protests  that  no  such  dis- 
tinction exists ;  that  the  method  of  all  the  sciences  is  the 
same ;  and  that  perfected  results  are  equally  exact.  He 
asserts  that  as  compared  with  the  mathematical  and  phys- 
ical sciences,  the  biological  sciences  are  no  less  compara- 
tive ;  that  they,  also,  use  experiment  as  well  as  observa- 
tion; and  that  they,  too,  employ  definition.  Neverthe- 

*  Whewell.     "  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,"  i,  p.  476. 
f  Huxley.     "  Science  and  Education,"  pp.  47-53. 


The  Nature  of  Science  179 

less,  Professor  Huxley  admits  that  "  the  biologist  deals 
with  a  vast  number  of  properties  of  objects,  and  his  in- 
ductions will  not  be  completed,  I  fear,  for  ages  to  come ; 
but  when  they  are,  his  science  will  be  as  deductive  and  as 
exact  as  the  mathematics  themselves."  Elsewhere,  also, 
in  the  same  essay,  he  says :  "  So  long  as  our  information 
concerning  them  is  imperfect,  we  class  all  objects  to- 
gether, according  to  resemblances  which  we  feel,  but 
cannot  define;  we  group  them  around  types,  in  short." 
Of  course,  this  is  saying,  in  substance,  for  the  present t 
state  of  biology,  what  Dr.  "Whewell  claims,  that  classi-V 
fication  of  its  material  is,  and  must  be  "  for  ages  to 
come,"  by  type,  in  many  cases;  by  definition,  in  the  few 
instances,  where  knowledge  is  complete. 

In  general,  to  define  means  to  fix  the  boundary  of 
that  .which  is  defined,  its  margin  of  contact  with,  and 
distinction  from,  something  else.  In  this  sense  the  term 
implies  traceable  limits,  and  precision  of  discrimination. 
But  it  also  carries  the  meaning  of  "  to  explain  "  or  "  to 
describe."  Locke  speaks  of  the  act  of  "  defining," 
so  used,  as  "  being  nothing  but  making  another  under- 
stand by  words  what  the  term  defined  stands  for."  The 
difference  between  "  inclusive  type "  and  "  limited 
class  "  is  then  primarily  one  of  exactness  of  determina- 
tion and  statement.  Perfection  of  knowledge  and  faith- 
fulness of  record  are  aimed  at  in  both  cases.  The  phe- 
nomena of  heat,  liglit,  motion,  electricity,  magnetism, 
chemism,  gravitation,  air,  water,  etc.,  may  be,  many  of 
them  have  been,  measured,  and  their  important  rela- 
tions tabulated.  They  readily  lend  themselves  to  defi- 


180  Science  of  Education 

nition,  and  exact  limiting  statements.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  of  the  phenomena  of  organic  matter — plant 
and  animal  life;  of  anthropology,  including  race  divis- 
ions, organic  functions,  language,  etc.;  of  psychology, 
and  the  forms  of  logic  and  art;  and  of  sociology,  com- 
prising what  is  currently  classed  as  history,  economics, 
politics,  ethics,  and  conventional  codes — may  be  organ- 
ized under  representative  types  only,  almost  not  at  all 
by  definition  and  mutually  exclusive  classes.  Plants 
and  animals  share  many  traits  in  common;  race  charac- 
teristics are  not  always  distinctly  marked;  languages 
are  perplexingly  blended;  neither  mental  functions  nor 
activities  are  anywhere  sharply  defined;  and  the  forms 
and  criteria  of  the  beautiful,  the  standards  of  conduct 
and  social  intercourse,  the  forces  that  make  for  civiliza- 
tion; and  the  genesis  and  functions  of  the  various  in- 
stitutions; yield,  along  with  manifold  other  phenom- 
ena, to  classification  by  inclusive  types  only. 

It  is  not  contended  that  the  resulting  systems  are 
less  trustworthy  in  these  than  in  those  or  that  the 
methods  are  any  less  fruitful ;  but,  dealing  with  mate- 
rial so  unlike,  they  are  different.  This  distinction  will 
be  seen  to  be  significant  as  the  discussion  proceeds.  Pro- 
fessor Huxley,*  once  more,  attempting  to  fix  the  rela- 
tion of  biology  to  other  sciences,  takes  satisfaction  in 
thinking  that  "  as  the  student,  in  reaching  biology, 
looks  back  upon  sciences  of  a  less  complex,  and,  there- 
fore, more  perfect  nature,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  does 
he  look  forward  to  other  more  complex  and  less  per- 
*  Huxley.  "  Science  and  Education,"  p.  53. 


The  Nature  of  Science  181 

feet  branches  of  knowledge.  Biology  deals  only  with 
living  beings  as  isolated  things;  treats  only  of  the  life 
of  the  individual:  but  there  is  a  higher  division  of  sci- 
ence still,  which  considers  living  beings  as  aggregates — 
which  deals  with  the  relations  of  living  beings  to  one 
another,  the  science  which  observes  men — whose  ex- 
periments are  made  by  nations  upon  one  another,  in 
battle  fields;  whose  general  propositions  are  embodied 
in  history,  morality,  and  religion;  whose  deductions 
lead  to  our  happiness  or  our  misery,  and  whose  verifica- 
tions so  often  come  too  late." 

Because  of  its  subject-matter,  this  group  of  sciences, 
the  sociological,  is  of  particular  interest  to  the  teacher, 
though  the  method  of  approach  to  their  phenomena  must 
be  much  the  same  as  for  others.  The  aim  in  all  of  them 
is  to  reach  accurate  knowledge — comparative,  verified, 
usable  knowledge;  knowledge  that  shall,  at  once,  serve 
as  guidance  and  as  power ;  knowledge  that  shall  be  pre- 
dictive of  wise  personal  and  social  treatment,  in  educa- 
tion, punishment,  reform,  industry,  government,  legis- 
lation, and  social  codes. 

Science  uses,  also,  logical  division,  not  mere  cata- 
loguing. The  ordering  of  the  facts  is  important.  Of 
course  they  must  be  gathered  and  enumerated.  It  is 
important  that  every  fact  be  known.  In  a  very  real 
sense  any  one  is  as  much  a  legitimate  object  of  inquiry 
to  the  scientist  as  any  other.  In  their  implications  and 
uses,  however,  some  will  be  found  more  significant  than 
others.  For  this  reason  a  bare  inventory,  however  com- 
plete, cannot  satisfy.  Science  is  a  body  of  organized 


182  Science  of  Education 

knowledge.  The  parts  must  be  logically  related.  Given 
the  facts,  this  is  what  makes  the  aggregate  to  be  sci- 
ence, and  not  information.  The  order  of  the  arrange- 
ment is  determined  by  the  relations  of  the  phenomena 
themselves,  and  cannot  be  imposed  by  the  mind.  The 
relations  are  there;  they  are  simply  observed;  not  cre- 
ated by  the  thinking,  or  manufactured.  In  the  nature 
of  things,  they  fix  their  own  order,  which  man,  more 
or  less  successfully,  seeks  to  discover  and  interpret. 

This  reflection,  also,  is  full  of  meaning  to  the  teacher 
who  would  know  the  material  with  which  she  works, 
and  know  how  to  respect  its  inner  moments  of  progress. 
Facts,  however  carefully  collected,  are  worth  little 
until  they  have  been  resolved  into  their  ordered  con- 
nectionSj  groups  and  classes;  parts  and  factors,  more  or 
less  important;  local  and  general  meanings.  Science 
implies  logical  arrangement,  not  cataloguing. 

Once  more,  fixed  and  general  laws  are  fundamental 
assumptions  in  science.  There  is  present  to  the  mind 
a  consciousness  that  there  are  uniformities  in  phenom- 
ena, and  accompanying  conditions,  in  terms  of  which 
their  happenings  may  be  explained;  whether  the  phe- 
nomena be  of  things  or  thought,  of  objects  or  people, 
of  institutions  or  ideas.  The  existence  and  character 
of  science  imply  a  conviction  that  what  is  observed  or 
discovered  may  be  accounted  for.  The  coloring  and 
falling  of  the  leaves  in  the  autumn,  the  covering  of 
animals,  race  distinctions  in  the  human  species,  the  ex- 
istence of  religious  sects,  diversities  of  customs,  the  char- 
acter of  industries,  the  reading  habit,  child  character — 


The  Nature  of  Science  183 

to  the  degree  that  they  interest  man  in  their  fitness, 
their  changes,  or  their  behavior,  rest  upon  an  assurance 
that  they  have  a  reason  for  their  being.  The  field  of  ex- 
istence and  occurrence,  about  the  teacher,  the  preacher, 
the  physician,  the  lawyer,  the  law-maker,  the  mother  as 
a  mother,  the  dealer,  or  the  manufacturer,  is  neither  less 
fruitful  nor  less  interesting  than  that  which  surrounds 
the  botanist,  the  zoologist,  the  physicist,  the  electrician, 
the  astronomer,  or  the  geologist.  Each  offers  abundant 
opportunity  for  scientific  inquiry.  Each  makes  its  ap- 
peal in  the  same  way  to  faith  in  the  thoroughly  expli- 
cable character  of  things,  because  of  faith  in  the  exist- 
ence of  fixed  and  general  laws  underlying  the  things. 

Finally,  in  the  consideration  of  the  character  of  sci- 
ence, it  may,  with  reasonable  accuracy,  be  said  that  its 
test  is  its  prevision  of  results.  Very  naturally  this  is 
more  generally  true  of  some  sciences  than  of  others, 
and  of  certain  sets  of  phenomena  within  each  science — 
most  of  all  in  the  mathematics,  and  the  mathematical 
sciences.  There  is  practical  certainty  in  mechanics  and 
engineering,  in  chemical  reactions,  meteorology,  soil 
and  soil  culture,  animal  breeding  and  habits,  and  many 
matters  concerning  human  individual  and  social  behav- 
ior, also. 

It  is  not  meant  that  in  any  considerable  number 
of  the  non-mathematical  sciences  one  shall  be  able 
to  tell  exactly  what  will  result;  but  that  certain  con- 
ditions and  factors  will  have  such  and  such  influence; 
and,  given,  with  these  conditions,  certain  influences,  the 
kind  of  effect  may  be  known.  As  the  phenomena  be- 


184  Science  of  Education 

come  such  as  to  make  the  introduction  of  unexpected 
influences  likely,  the  result  becomes  so  much  the  more 
problematical;  as  unforeseen  weather  conditions  jeop- 
ardize the  crops,  or  a  panic  of  fright  may  disorganize 
an  otherwise  dignified  assembly,  or  an  unfamiliar  in- 
dividual will  may  set  prejudgment  at  naught.  It  may 
be  said,  however,  that  the  more  perfectly  organized  the 
knowledge,  the  more  accurate  and  reliable  are  the  pos- 
sible predictions. 

In  the  region  of  human  action,  this  prevision  becomes 
relatively  less  frequent,  and  less  trustworthy,  in  detail ; 
but,  in  the  aggregate,  surprisingly  reliable.  We  act  upon 
our  knowledge,  in  the  handling  of  great  crowds,  legislat- 
ing for  the  slums,  educating  the  young,  encouraging  in- 
vention, building  highways  of  commerce,  the  investment 
of  wealth,  and  going  to  war.  We  are  sometimes  mis- 
taken ;  but  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  if  our  knowledge  were 
complete  as  to  all  of  the  really  or  practically  uniform 
happenings,  the  occasional  or  frequent  presence  of  an  ar- 
bitrary or  unexpected  factor  would  be  found  far  less  dis- 
turbing than  it  now  seems.  Human  faculty,  also,  is 
quite  uniform  in  its  behavior;  and  particularly  child 
faculty,  as  it  appears  in  the  school  and  at  home,  at  task 
and  at  play.  As  concerns  prevision,  science  is  no  less 
instructive  for  the  teacher  than  for  its  other  qualities. 

It  is  conceded  at  once  that  as  the  phenomena  of  life 
are  more  complex  than  most  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
physical  sciences,  so  the  facts  of  human  life  are  even 
more  complex.  Account  must  be  taken  of  the  individ- 
ual will  and  individual  organic  biases;  of  shifting  social 
standards  and  conventions;  of  congregate  relations  as 


The  Nature  of  Science  185 

something  different  from  the  personal  relations;  of  man- 
ifold and  seemingly  inextricably  tangled  and  mutually 
interacting  social  groups;  of  institutions  whose  begin- 
nings and  reasons  are  lost  in  history;  conflicting  and 
struggling  economic,  and  industrial,  and  civic  and  ethi- 
cal policies;  and  the  presence  in  the  midst  of  them  all 
of  the  leader  with  his  following — the  priest  with  his 
flock,  the  politician  with  his  party,  the  philosopher  with 
his  school,  the  reformer  with  his  adherents,  the  master 
with  his  disciples. 

And  of  all  these  the  pedagogical  phenomena  are  not 
the  least  complex.  They  concern  mind,  not  matter ;  ideas 
and  ideals,  not  material  products  only;  phenomena  that 
are  strikingly  dynamic,  not  static. 

Because  these  phenomena  are  more  or  less  abstract 
and  intricately  interdependent,  the  effort  to  resolve 
them  into  a  system  properly  co-ordinating  and  sub- 
ordinating the  several  notions  will  be  correspondingly 
difficult.  Already  there  is  held  by  both  the  lay  and  the 
professional  mind,  and  imbedded  in  extant  philosophies, 
a  considerable  fund  of  pedagogical  knowledge;  it 
awaits  organization.  The  science  is  in  its  descriptive 
stage.  Much  of  what  is  known  lacks  defmiteness. 
There  is  more  or  less  confusion  over  terms,  because 
there  is  confusion  over  the  ideas  for  which  the  terms 
are  supposed  to  stand.  To  become  scientific  the  facts 
must  receive  more  accurate  definition,  and  verified  defi- 
nition. Pedagogy  obviously  belongs  to  that  "  higher 
division  of  science  which  considers  living  beings  as  ag- 
gregates," and  the  "  verification  of  whose  deductions  so 
often  come  too  late." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   SCIENTIFIC    METHOD 

IN  addition  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  nature  of 
science,  its  methods,  aho,  must  not  only  be  under- 
stood, but  employed  in  the  interpretation  or  construc- 
tion of  a  Science  of  Education,  not  less  than  to  ration- 
alize the  teaching.  And  this  method  is  both  simple 
and  easily  stated.  Practically  all  agree  as  to  the  essen- 
tial requirements.  Professor  Huxley  has  been  quoted  as 
saying  that  "  science  is  only  trained  common-sense." 
It  differs,  as  we  all  know,  quite  enough  from  common 
thought — but  not  in  its  matter.  "  Scientific  thought," 
affirms  Kingdon  Clifford,  "  does  not  mean  thought 
about  scientific  subjects.  There  are  no  scientific  sub- 
jects." It  is  the  method  of  the  mind's  movement  that 
determines  the  thinking  to  be  scientific,  merely  tech- 
nical, or  irrational.  It  is  not  confined  to  the  material 
world;  though  this  is  a  common  distortion  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  term.  The  subject-matter  of  science  com- 
prises whatever  "  is,  or  has  been,  or  may  be  related 
to  man."  Scientific  thought  is  no  more  the  province  of 
the  physicist  than  of  the  philanthropist;  it  no  more  be- 
longs to  botany  than  to  ethics;  to  diatoms,  than  to  the 
Decalogue. 

186 


The  Scientific  Method  187 

Primarily,  the  scientific  method  requires  careful,  ac- 
curate, painstaking  observation.  All  first  steps  in  learn- 
ing are  descriptive,  and  give  one  acquaintance  with 
individuals  and  large  particulars.  Because  of  omitting 
many  details,  knowledge  is  vague  and  disconnected 
often.  The  movement  is  toward  the  gathering  of  in- 
formation. Experiences  of  this  sort  accumulate.  Many 
of  them  will,  in  time,  be  discarded;  some  few  will  re- 
main. This  is  a  crude  prophecy  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
later,  regulated,  provident,  scientific  method.  All  scien- 
tific thought,  about  whatever  phenomena,  implies  a 
deep  rooting  in  a  rich  soil  of  particulars.  This  means 
purposeful  observation,  using  all  the  senses;  reinforc- 
ing their  exercise  by  bringing  to  bear  upon  it  all  of 
the  observer's  related  experience;  noting  the  conditions 
that  accompany,  and  seeing  and  thinking  the  parts  and 
happenings  in  their  relations.  The  act  involves  an  ele- 
ment of  honesty — honesty  to  one's  self — that  one  shall 
not  claim  to  find  what  is  not  there  to  be  found,  or  what 
has  not  been  found ;  and  that  one  shall  direct  his  efforts 
to  finding  all  that  is  to  be  found,  not  content  to  accept 
partial  knowledge,  and  claim  completeness.  In  one's 
inquiry  it  may  be  necessary  to  prolong  the  observation 
until  it  takes  on  the  character  of  an  investigation,  in 
which  the  observation  is  carried  on  under  varying  con- 
ditions, and  through  important  changes,  and  the  lapse 
of  time.  The  act  is  still  essentially  one  of  observation, 
and  the  object  is  the  gathering  of  reliable  facts  of  ex- 
perience about  the  thing  studied.  These  are,  in  time, 
to  be  used  as  the  raw  material  for  induction;  for  the 


188  Science  of  Education 

moment  they  are  gathered  as  if  the  value  were  in  them- 
selves. 

Occasionally  the  investigation  takes  on  the  form  of 
experiment.  It  has  been  said  that  when  the  purpose 
is  to  discover  what  is  the  cause  of  a  given  effect,  the 
inquiry  takes  on  the  character  of  observation  or  inves- 
tigation; but  that  when  one  asks,  from  a  given  cause, 
what  are  likely  to  be  the  effects,  the  search  becomes  an 
experiment.  In  direct  or  simple  observation,  one  ac- 
quires the  static  or  descriptive  view;  in  the  more  pro- 
longed investigation,  in  which  there  is  a  tracing  of 
movements  and  a  following  of  causes  to  their  effects, 
and  chains  of  sequences,  there  is  given  the  generic, 
dynamic  or  historical  view.  In  the  experiment,  which 
involves  a  combination  of  thing  and  circumstance,  and 
these  varied  at  will,  there  is  obtained  the  critical  view. 
Rarely,  in  any  set  of  phenomena,  does  any  one  of  these 
occur  independently.  Every  experiment  includes  both 
of  the  others;  as  every,  even  the  simplest,  observation 
involves  something1  of  investigation.  The  most  com- 
plete and  elaborate  experiment  is  only  refined  investi- 
gation; as  investigation  is  crude  experiment.  The  end 
sought  is  accurate  knowledge  of  facts  and  conditions; 
and,  in  all  the  earlier  stages,  the  condition  imposed  is 
that  the  facts  shall  be  of  one's  own  getting.  There  must 
be  direct  personal  relations  with  the  fact.  In  the  begin- 
ning, at  least,  scientific  knowledge  cannot  be  had  at 
second-hand ;  and,  for  anyone,  the  method  is  scientific 
only  when  one  employs  himself  in  the  gathering  of 
facts.  And,  while  a  record  of  the  fact  may  be  found 


The  Scientific  Method  189 

upon  the  shelf  of  another,  it  loses  much  of  its  effective- 
ness as  a  fact,  and  almost  all  of  its  effect  upon  the 
learner,  by  being  taken  from  authority. 

It  remains  to  be  noted  of  this  first  step  in  the  scientific 
method,  that  the  reliability  of  the  observations  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  much  repetition.  By  such  means,  the 
chances  of  error  either  in  the  seeing  or  the  recording,  or 
both,  will  be  much  reduced.  But  as,  in  many  successive 
observations  of  one  set  of  phenomena,  the  conditions  are 
likely  to  vary  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  there  is  sug- 
gested the  next  stage  in  the  method,  that  of  comparison 
of  phenomena  and  registry  of  observations.  This  only 
means  prolonged  and  multiplied  investigations  under 
all  possible1  important  conditions ;  tracing  movements ; 
following  up  causes  to  effects;  tracing  back  effects  to 
causes ;  and  all  this,  whether  the  phenomena  be  the  cur- 
culio,  hereditary  traits  among  animals  or  men,  the 
growth  of  institutions,  or  the  maturing,  and  habits,  and 
instincts  of  a  child.  Along  with  this  observation  of  like 
phenomena  under  varying  conditions,  and  unlike  phe- 
nomena under  the  same  conditions,  there  goes  this  com- 
parison of  accompanying  classifications  and  inductions. 
Indeed,  for  so  little  does  the  individual  fact  count  in  the 
final  analysis,  that  these  two,  "  comparison  and  the  clas- 
sification, which  is  the  result  of  comparison,  are  the  es- 
sence of  every  science."  Out  of  these,  groups  and 
classes  are  derived,  for  the  mind's  use,  typical  indi- 
viduals which  constitute  the  real  working  material  of 
most  sciences  and  especially  of  the  biological  and  social. 

That  is,  for  example,  science  has  to  do,  not  with  the 


190  Science  of  Education 

individual  mammal,  but  with  the  group  mammalia ;  not 
with  this  or  that  man,  but  with  the  species,  or  with 
the  community,  the  class,  the  party,  the  organization; 
and  with  individuals  as  they  stand  related  to  these;  not 
with  a  given  text,  or  branch,  or  solution,  but  with  rep- 
resentative ones.  A  knowledge  of  the  type  and  ability 
to  recognize  and  interpret  the  type,  is  a  primary  requi- 
site in  all  such  investigations.  The  classification  that 
accompanies  or  follows  the  studied  comparisons  noted 
is  already  of  such  character  as  to  imply  a  tentative  in- 
ference. Conditions  being  given,  the  phenomena  are 
noted;  direction  being  given  to  the  observation  by  the 
accompanying  hypothesis  or  supposition.  This  assigns 
a  probable  cause,  or  a  reasonable  connection  between 
the  conditions  noted  and  the  phenomena.  If  it  be  found 
to  explain  many  or  most  of  the  phenomena  in  the  group 
studied,  and  to  contradict  none,  the  hypothesis  fur- 
nishes a  working  basis  at  least  for  the  induction.  In- 
deed, the  existence  of  such  interpreting  supposition  im- 
plies that  evidence  has  been  accumulating — possibly 
from  the  beginning  of  the  observation,  and  that  the 
meanings  of  the  facts  are  taking  shape  in  the  mind. 

What  has  been  described  here  as  successive  steps  are 
not  always,  or,  perhaps,  generally,  taken  in  this  serial 
order.  Each  more  or  less  overlaps  the  adjacent  steps; 
and  the  tendency  of  the  mind  is  to  hasten  on  to  tentative 
comparisons,  and  provisional  hypothesis,  and  nascent 
inferences,  even  before  the  investigations  are  adequate 
to  make  the  induction  valid.  This  tendency  of  the  mind 
in  such  reasoning  to  leap  over  intermediate  steps  is  the 


The  Scientific  Method  191 

source  of  incalculable  error.  Careful,  painstaking  ob- 
servations, and  all-round  critical  investigations  and 
comparisons  will  conduce  to  make  the  consequent  in- 
duction not  only  easy,  but  ready.  If  well  prepared 
for,  the  act  of  inference  is  a  form  of  insight  only.  The 
meaning  of  the  facts  is  borne  in  upon  one,  and  does 
not  have  to  be  derived;  it  is  given.  The  difficult  part 
of  the  entire  process  lies  in  the  gathering  of  facts,  find- 
ing their  value,  working  them  into  a  solution,  and  trac- 
ing the  common  elements,  upon  the  heels  of  which  the 
induction  appears.  The  formation  of  a  meaning  for 
the  group,  from  the  findings  among  the  individuals  of 
the  group,  is  an  act  of  induction  whose  statement  in 
words  is  our  expression  of  the  law,  or  general  proposi- 
tion. The  error  of  most  science,  and  of  common,  un- 
trained thinking,  is  hasty,  ill-considered  induction.  And 
this  is  not  more  true  of  earth  phenomena  than  of  man; 
of  matter  than  of  mind;  of  the  naturalization  of  the 
English  sparrow  than  of  the  English  immigrant. 

Inferences  themselves,  once  more,  are  valid  only  as 
they  are  verified.  As  our  English  scientist  puts  it: 
"  Justification  is  by  verification — not  by  faith."  Fol- 
lowing the  more  or  less  careful  observations  and  the  re- 
peated questioning  of  phenomena  as  to  their  meanings, 
and  accompanied  by  the  inevitable  suppositions  of  the 
observer  as  to  what  is  true,  the  experiment  or  investi- 
gation itself  becomes  the  test,  or  means  of  verification. 
"  Induction,"  says  Bascom,  "  is  nothing  without  a 
theory,  or  conception  of  some  kind,  running  side  by 
side  with  its  classifications,  guiding  and  interpreting 


192  Science  of  Education 

them,  and  ready  deductively  to  furnish  shining  strokes 
of  exposition."  In  practice,  verification  means  using 
inferences  in  subsequent  experience — bringing  them  to 
the  test  of  application.  So  that,  except  in  the  most 
formal  and  technical  investigation  and  experiment,  for 
the  sake  of  the  conclusions,  the  verification  goes  on 
alongside  of  all  the  earlier  steps  of  the  process.  One's 
former  experience  will  contribute  something  of  insight 
and  an  ability  and  disposition  of  mind  to  give  meaning 
to  the  observed  facts;  observation,  also,  is  interpre- 
tative to  a  degree,  i.e.,  selective  of  probable  meanings; 
while  experiment  is,  in  its  very  nature,  an  act  of  the 
mind,  throwing  the  facts  into  chosen,  convenient  ar- 
rangement for  one's  observation.  This  bias  of  mind  to 
accept  certain  meanings  for  the  facts  rather  than  others, 
becomes,  if  reinforced  by  the  understanding,  the  work- 
ing hypothesis.  The  danger  from  error  in  all  this  lies 
in  the  fact  that  one  may  permit  the  predisposition  of 
the  former  experience  to  override  the  other  factors, 
observation,  investigation,  and  experiment,  even  to  the 
rejection  of  the  truth  in  favor  of  one's  preferences. 

Nowhere  is  this  peril  greater  than  among  phenomena 
involving  human  relations.  Men  are,  strangely  enough, 
ready  to  venture  an  assurance  of  knowledge  about  man- 
kind, and  education,  and  moral  codes,  and  civic  rights, 
and  business  ethics,  and  trade  economics,  and  statutes 
and  constitutions,  and  creeds,  as  they  do  not  think  of 
doing  about  electric  currents,  or  molecules,  or  building- 
concrete,  or  tunneling,  or  the  X-rays,  or  the  resolving 
of  chemical  compounds.  And  this  is  particularly  true. 


The  Scientific  Method  193 

when  the  human  problems  involve  police  administra- 
tion, or  reforms,  or  plans  for  public  betterment,  the 
treatment  of  the  wayward,  management  of  the  slums,  or 
the  care  of  neglected  classes.  Yet  these  will  repay  a 
study  at  close  range;  and  might  profitably  be  studied 
as  one  studies  the  evolution  of  life,  the  genesis  of  cus- 
toms, or  the  aggressions  of  industrialism. 

These  are  all  social  problems,  and  can  be  studied  to 
advantage  only  as  other  social  problems  are  studied,  i.e., 
historically.  In  pedagogy,  which  is  one  of  the  social  sci- 
ences, the  only  trustworthy  method  is  that  which  has 
been  called  above  the  historical  or  genetic.  Observation 
takes  the  form  of  prolonged  investigation,  or  experi- 
ment. Its  phenomena  appear  in  successive  times,  in 
series,  representing  chains  of  consequences,  and  can 
only  be  investigated  historically.  The  simplest  prob- 
lems of  the  school-room,  not  less  than  the  culture  devel- 
opment of  a  race,  have  this  characteristic.  They  are 
all  processes  of  evolution,  and  their  phenomena  appear 
in  periods,  and  must  be  observed  through  successive 
stages.  In  large  part,  the  success  or  effectiveness  of 
the  observation  lies  in  knowing  what  facts  to  look  for, 
at  least  what  type  of  facts,  and  where  to  look  for  them. 
And  in  a  measure,  this  depends  upon  the  hypothesis 
one  holds.  The  one  necessary  warning  is  that,  whatever 
the  hypothesis,  one  must  not  allow  it  to  warp  the  mind 
or  distort  the  facts  that  are  observed. 

The  scientific  method  finds  interesting  and  apt  exem- 
plification in  the  modern  study  of  educational  ques- 
tions from  the  point  of  view  of  the  school.  The  Na- 


194  .     Science  of  Education 

tional  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education; 
the  Society  of  Educational  Research;  the  work  of  Clark 
University,  and  the  movement  it  has  stimulated;  the 
several,  university  psychological  and  pedagogical  labo- 
ratories; the  individual,  association  and  club  or  round- 
table  efforts  to  promote  child-study  interests ;  the  Dewey 
School  and  the  accompanying  experiments  there  and 
elsewhere,  with  the  "  culture-epoch  "  theory;  the  more 
or  less  systematic  inquiries,  instituted  in  recent  years, 
by  the  National  Educational  Association,  into  the  work 
of  different  phases  of  public  education — secondary 
schools,  rural  schools,  normal  schools,  preparatory 
schools,  college  entrance  requirements,  history,  the 
classics,  English,  mathematics,  physical  science,  school 
statistics,  etc. ;  the  current  readjustment  of  city  school 
and  college  courses;  the  revision  of  theories  and  educa- 
tional doctrine  incident  to  the  encroachment  of  indus- 
trial and  technical  instruction;  all  are  more  or  less  sig- 
nificant indications  of  the  impulse  to  examine  or  re- 
examine  the  nature  and  conditions  and  progress  of 
directed  education. 

In  all  fairness  to  truth,  it  should  be  said  that  much  of 
all  this  is  scientific  in  appearance  only,  and  promises 
little  direct  contribution  to  our  verifiable  knowledge  of 
either  educational  or  teaching  processes.  Much  of  it 
is  little  else  than  the  recording  of  experience — often 
self-satisfied,  insular  and  unverified,  untested  experi- 
ence. Even  when  there  is  at  times  a  real  effort 
to  supplement  experience  by  inquiry,  it  too  often 
means  only  surface  observation,  that  is  in  no  sense 


The  Scientific  Method  195 

critical  or  selective.  The  experience  dominates,  and  the 
observer  sees  what  he  wants  to  see  or  what  he  has  seen 
only,  and  the  truth  is  colored  by  a  predominant  preju- 
dice. Notwithstanding  which,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
all  best  modern  investigations  of  such  problems  are 
being  made  in  a  well-disposed  and  fairly  reasonable, 
if  not  always  a  scientific  spirit.  The  child,  his  habits 
and  preferences;  his  instincts  and  conduct;  his  motives 
and  powers  and  limitations;  his  physical  powers  and 
growth,  and  their  reaction  upon  the  mind;  his  temper 
and  tendencies  are  all  being  subjected,  by  one  or  an- 
other observer,  to  a  strict  inquiry,  in  much  the  same 
way  as  are  the  nature  and  habits  of  birds  and  bugs  and 
flowers.  As  this  implies,  the  study  is  detailed,  patient, 
analytic.  The  technical  and  professional  literature  of 
the  day  is  becoming  filled  with  the  research  and  its  con- 
clusions. It  is  evident  that  the  view  of  the  teacher  has 
greatly  changed  in  a  generation.  To  equip  one  thor- 
oughly for  the  work  of  instruction,  his  studies  must  be 
comparative  and  many-sided. 

Among  all  these,  the  most  thoroughly  scientific,  be- 
cause of  both  the  methods  employed  and  the  importance 
of  the  conclusions  reached,  are  certain  studies  pursued 
in  the  great  psychological  laboratories.  As  bearing 
more  or  less  directly  upon  the  educational  process,  such 
are  the  experiments,  having  to  do  with  the  time  ele- 
ment in  mind  functioning,  rhythm,  fatigue,  sensation 
thresholds,  pathological  conditions,  including  defec- 
tives; and  abnormal  functions  in  otherwise  normal  or- 
ganisms, motor  tendencies  accompanying  intellectual 


196  Science  of  Education 

action;  the  limits  of  effective  attention,  and  genetic 
studies  of  the  mind,  generally.  The  natural  history  of 
habit,  as  worked  out  for  pedagogy  by  the  psychologists, 
is  fascinatingly  interesting,  and  worthy  of  study  by 
the  teacher;  as  also  the  impulse  to  imitation. 

Among  contributors  to  these  studies,  whose  writings 
are  accessible  to  English  readers,  may  be  named  Taine 
("  On  the  Intelligence  "),  Bain  ("  The  Senses  and  the 
Intellect"),  Sully  ("The  Human  Mind"),  G.  Groom 
Robertson,  formerly  editor  of  "  Mind,"  Francis  Galton 
("  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty  "  and  other  works), 
Mark  Baldwin  (Johns  Hopkins  University),  James 
(Harvard),  Ladd  (Yale),  Cattell  (University  of  Penn- 
sylvania), Royce  (Harvard),  Scripture  (Yale),  and 
particularly  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  pupil  in  '79  and  '80 
of  Wundt,  Leipsic,  and  who  founded  the  first  psycho- 
logical laboratory  in  this  country,  in  1883,  at  Johns 
Hopkins,  and  who  began  the  publication  of  the  "Amer- 
ican Journal  of  Psychology"  four  years  later,  and  the 
"  Pedagogical  Seminary  "  in  1891.  Besides  these,  there 
should  be  noted  especially  the  services  of  Wundt  at 
Leipsic,  Preyer,  Binet,  Ribot  ("  On  Memory  "),  Perez 
(observer  of  children),  etc.,  most  of  whom  are  or  may  be 
known  to  American  teachers  through  translation,  also, 
of  their  writings. 

For  teachers,  particular  interest  attaches  to  the  many 
and  careful  studies  of  adolescence,  habit  and  imitation 
carried  on  by  Hall,  James,  Royce  and  others,  and  the 
manifold  investigations  of  child  life,  both  by  individ- 
uals and  institutions,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 


The  Scientific  Method  197 

The  amount  of  material  already  accumulated  on  the  lat- 
ter topic  is  enormous.  Much  of  it,  because  of  inexpert 
observation  and  unintelligent  record,  must  prove  to  be 
worthless,  at  least  as  data  for  inference,  though  very 
valuable  as  training  for  the  observer.  Added  to  these, 
also,  mention  should  be  made  of  the  questionaire  in- 
vestigations of  the  play  instinct  and  its  relation  to 
growth  on  the  one  side,  and  to  studies  and  assignments 
as  a  means  of  growth  on  the  other.  The  starting-point 
of  this  interest  was  doubtless  the  kindergarten  move- 
ment, though  its  consideration  long  since  passed  beyond 
the  limits  of  that  movement.  The  introduction  of 
manual  training,  also,  has  both  stimulated  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  motor  accompaniments  of  mental  activities 
and  been  reinforced  by  such  inquiries.  Professor 
James  affirms  *  that  "  it  is  the  essence  of  all  conscious- 
ness (or  of  the  neural  process  which  underlies  it)  to 
instigate  movement  of  some  sort."  And  it  appears 
from  the  most  cursory  professional  studies  even  of  chil- 
dren, that  no  experience  may  be  regarded  as  complete 
that  is  not  permitted  to  round  itself  out  in  some  sort 
of  expression,  either  in  conduct  or  achievement. 

Among  the  more  narrowly  professional  inquiries  are 
included  those  into  the  social  meanings  of  education, 
optional  courses  and  voluntary  exercises,  the  integration 
of  the  manifold  of  lessons  into  a  body  of  experience 
and  the  process  of  the  teaching  art.  Most  of  these,  as 
well  as  several  other  topics,  may  be  found  among  the 
lists  of  child-study  undertakings,  though  they  by  no 
*  James.  "Psychology,"  vol.  ii,  p.  551. 


198  Science  of  Education 

means  complete  the  inventory  of  investigations  at- 
tempted. One  bibliography  gives  a  catalogue  of  more 
than  2,000  more  or  less  serious  contributions  to  this 
child-study  interest.  Some  of  them  are  of  great  prac- 
tical as  well  as  theoretical  value;  some  of  them,  many 
perhaps,  are  almost  valueless.  In  the  aggregate  their 
great  significance  lies  in  the  wide-spread  interest  which 
they  have  attracted  and  the  generous  and  well-meant, 
if  not  always  intelligent,  co-operation  among  teachers. 
School  people  have  been  brought  to  thoughtfulness 
about  their  daily  work.  It  has  been  dignified  often, 
in  their  own  estimate.  A  good  many  eyes  have  been 
opened  to  productive,  simple,  fruitful  inquiries  that 
before  were  closed.  Among  some,  who  were  merely 
school-keepers  or  only  indifferent,  it  has  raised  children 
to  the  rank  of  persons  instead  of  objects.  On  the  other 
hand,  by  their  devotion  to  the  dictates  of  child-study 
enthusiasts,  certain  teachers  have  become  self-conscious 
in  their  teaching,  and  have  fallen  into  a  mechanically 
wooden  routine.  This  is  unfortunate,  but  is  an  un- 
avoidable incident  of  such  reform.  In  the  transition 
there  must  be  some  inefficiency.  Whatever  the  form 
which  this  study  of  educational  questions  assumes,  there 
are  suggested  by  the  above  discussion  certain  obser- 
vations which  should  be  regarded. 

First,  for  reliable  results,  there  are  needed  trained 
observers,  or,  what  will  be  found  in  the  end  quite  as 
helpful  to  the  profession,  there  is  needed  a  body  of 
earnest  teachers  who  are  also  students,  and  who  are 
ready  to  make  every  day's  undertakings  an  object  of 


The  Scientific  Method  199 

fresh,  thoughtful,  critical  direction.  To  have  a  habit 
of  purposely  shaping  all  important  exercises  of  the  day 
in  the  light  of  the  day's  and  the  pupil's  particular  and 
passing  conditions,  will  do  much  to  cultivate  just  this 
power  of  acute  and  discriminating  observation  of  the 
child's  fixed  traits.  The  ability  quickly  to  recognize 
the  new  factors  in  a  situation,  to  discover  among  chil- 
dren centres  of  energy  and  inhibition,  to  fix  upon  the 
important  details  in  an  observation,  is  a  beginning  for 
any  real  scientific  study  of  school  and  educational  prob- 
lems. And  that  one  shall  be  able  and  satisfied  to  do 
this  and  to  accept  the  reading  of  the  facts,  though  it  be 
contrary  to  one's  habitual  procedure,  is  no  less  im- 
portant. The  self-satisfied  and  popularly  successful 
teacher  will  not  easily  assume  this  impersonal  interest. 
But  it  is  important  that  he  be  brought  to  do  so.  He 
must  be  more  anxious  to  discover  what  is  the  right 
way  or  the  best  way,  or  at  least  a  better  way,  than 
know  that  either  conforms  to  his  way,  and  be  ready 
to  surrender  his  most  cherished  habit,  long-standing 
practice,  if  it  be  found  to  contravene  clearly  discovered 
pupil  conditions.  This  may  mean  a  succession  of  tests, 
or  a  series  of  carefully  arranged  experiments  covering 
days  or  even  months,  as  in  the  use  of  a  new  set  of 
teaching  exercises,  or  a  new  order  of  tasks,  or  child 
standards  of  right  behavior,  or  the  length  of  most  ef- 
fective recitation  periods,  etc.  But  any  earnest  teacher 
who  will  really  set  himself  to  study  patiently,  vigor- 
ously, impersonally,  any  one  or  another  of  these  or 
similar  school  problems,  and  be  content  to  persevere 


200  Science  of  Education 

to  the  attainment  of  some  perceptible  result,  will  find 
that  the  power  to  do  so  has  been  appreciably  increased. 
Only  so  can  the  scientific  spirit  be  acquired.  By  using 
the  method  one  grows  in  power  to  use  it. 

Its  fruitfulness  for  the  teacher  is  increased  as  he 
shows  himself  resourceful  in  discovering  the  possible — 
probable — meanings  of  the  facts  observed.  Whatever 
the  facts,  and  however  clearly  they  may  be  seen  and 
acknowledged,  wrong-headed  interpretation  may  wrest 
them  from  even  an  obvious  meaning.  "  Others  might 
have  been — may  have  been — as  familiar  with  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  electrical  agent  and  lightning  as  was 
Franklin  and  not  sensed  their  identity,  or  failed  to  dis- 
cover oxygen  though  knowing  all  the  facts  Lavoisier 
knew,  or  to  read  into  the  observed  motions  of  the 
planets  what  Copernicus  saw,  or  into  terrestrial  gravity 
what  Newton  saw,  or  in  a  thousand  minor  conditions 
what  their  observers  discovered."  There  is  needed  a 
mind  habitually  sensitive  to  the  teachings  of  nature, 
and  particularly  child  nature;  interested  in  their  mean- 
ings for  their  own  sake;  studious  of  professional  prob- 
lems in  an  impersonal  way;  open-minded,  as  if  work- 
ing in  a  laboratory. 

To  this  end  there  is  needed  also  a  large  academic 
equipment  of  teachers  to  use  the  conclusions  of  the 
experts.  Already  far  more  is  known  of  the  ways  of 
the  mind,  and  the  conditions  of  growth,  and  the 
moral  significance  of  knowledge,  and  the  value  of  the 
instincts,  and  the  reinforcement  of  habit,  and  the  inte- 
grations of  experiences,  and  the  incentives  to  learn- 


The  Scientific  Method  201 

ing  than  most  of  us  are  able  to  appropriate  or  utilize. 
It  is  doubtless  some  such  conviction  as  this  that  prompt- 
ed Lester  F.  Ward  to  say :  "  Education  means  the  uni- 
versal distribution  of  extant  knowledge."  If  every 
cook  knew  and  practised  what  the  experts  in  culinary 
science  know;  if  conditions  of  health  and  vigor  were 
as  well  understood  by  the  people  as  by  the  practitioner; 
if  men  knew  their  national  history  as  the  few  know  it, 
or  music,  or  the  criteria  of  art,  or  conduct;  if  every 
teacher  knew  and  were  in  a  position  to  use  what  science 
and  philosophy  and  experience  have  worked  out  as 
worth  while,  the  incident  arts  would  be  more  effective 
and  personal  and  social  life  richer  in  many  ways.  Not 
every  teacher  may  be  expected  to  be  a  scientist ;  but  the 
public  has  a  right  to  expect  that  he  who  sets  himself 
up  to  be  a  teacher  shall  have  such  mental  equipment, 
in  attainment  and  power,  as  to  be  able  to  appropriate 
in  an  effective  way  such  conclusions  of  science  and  phi- 
losophy as  will  make  the  right  doing  of  his  work  as  a 
teacher  more  sure. 

The  requirements  of  scientific  investigation  are 
neither  many  nor  difficult  of  attainment;  but  to  those 
who  are  familiar  with  its  methods,  pedagogical  ques- 
tions would  be  simplified  ;  and  that  the  teachers'  insights 
would  be  greatly  enriched  by  a  thoroughgoing,  patient, 
unbiassed  application  of  them  by  the  teacher  to  a  study 
of  the  child  on  the  side  of  schooling,  should  call  for  no 
argument.  In  matters  that  immediately  concern  his 
daily  work  the  teacher  has  unequalled  opportunities 
for  verifying  conclusions.  The  school-room  is  his 


202  Science  of  Education 

laboratory,  but  the  pupils  constitute  a  miniature  so- 
ciety in  whose  movements  and  reactions  he  finds  the 
immediate  and  spontaneous  test  of  the  soundness  of 
his  inference.  There  is  opportunity  for  daily  revision 
and  corrected  testing  and  new  experiment  and  repeated 
deductions.  To  find  the  right  way  of  dealing  with  chil- 
dren, and  to  follow  it,  are  his  business.  Every  recita- 
tion affords  a  new  opportunity  of  correcting  mistakes 
of  judgment  or  of  observation.  Doubtless  it  was  in- 
evitable that  the  first  critical  studies  of  the  educational 
process  should  be  made  by  scientists  in  the  study;  but 
if  the  investigation  is  to  be  complete  and  the  conclu- 
sions convincing,  both  investigations  and  conclusions 
must  be  furthered  and  tested  and  verified  by  regular 
teachers  in  the  several  school-rooms  doing  the  accus- 
tomed tasks  under  ordinary  conditions.  Teachers 
must  themselves  become  observers  and  know  how  wise- 
ly to  apply  their  own  conclusions. 

Primarily,  every  pedagogical  problem,  whether  larger 
or  smaller,  has  its  three  aspects,  all  of  which,  though 
of  unequal  importance,  are  yet  necessary,  each  in  its 
own  way,  for  any  complete  consideration.  There  is, 
primarily,  the  simple,  descriptive  view  which  regards 
the  individual  object  or  fact,  as  the  particular  course 
of  study,  the  specific  act  of  disobedience,  some  one  reci- 
tation, or  text-book,  or  school  programme,  or  mental 
process;  a  given  habit,  motive  or  interest.  Subsequent 
to,  higher  than  this  and  supplementing  it,  is  the  com- 
parative view,  which  examines  together  contemporary 
systems,  or  administrations,  or  equipments,  or  peda- 


The  Scientific  Method  203 

gogical  doctrine,  or  interpretations  of  mind  growth, 
or  conditions  and  phenomena  in  the  perspective  of  their 
development,  i.e.,  historically.  Xo  interpretation  of 
school  or  mind  can  be  regarded  as  final  that  omits 
from  the  consideration  of  any  act  or  experience,  from 
any  policy  or  system,  the  antecedents  from  which  it 
grew.  Details  of  management  and  discipline,  the 
course  of  study,  the  act  of  teaching,  the  attitude  of  the 
puhlic  and  current  professional  notions,  are  all  prod- 
ucts of  slow  evolution  and  find  their  real  interpreta- 
tion in  terms  of  that  evolution. 

Finally,  there  is  the  logical  view,  which  exhibits 
the  inherent  causal  relations ;  the  necessity  of  nature 
that  explains  the  facts,  the  source  and  condition  of 
the  motive  to  right  behavior,  the  reasons  for  individual 
wrong-doing,  the  prescriptive  exercises  as  grounded  in 
the  needs  of  the  child,  discipline  as  rational  and  natural, 
etc.  No  one  fact  of  the  life  is  explained  by  any  other 
co-ordinate  fact;  both  must  be  explained,  if  at  all,  in 
terms  of  some  larger  fact,  some  whole  of  which  they  are 
parts  or  to  which  they  are  subordinate.  Hence  the  neces- 
sity teachers  are  under  to  comprehend  the  principles  of 
pedagogics  as  derived  from  the  several  contributing  sci- 
ences. These  constitute  the  matter  for  Parts  III  and 
IV  of  the  Science  of  Education  now  to  be  considered. 


THE   DATA   OF   EDUCATIONAL   SCIENCE 


CHAPTER  XV 
THEIR  GENERAL  CHARACTER 

THE  composite  character  of  the  science  of  education 
is  likely  to  give  the  impression  of  a  lack  of  unity  in 
its  organization.  This  accounts  for  a  doubt  in  certain 
quarters  whether  there  be  any  such  science  possible. 
And  if  the  aggregate  of  ideas  were  really  not  efficient- 
ly organized  about  some  central,  vitalizing  thought, 
the  doubt  would  be  justified.  The  present  section  is 
given  to  a  presentation  and  to  a  brief  consideration  of 
this  unifying  principle,  as  entertained  by  this  work. 
That  there  is  such  principle  in  education,  and  poten- 
tially one  for  teaching,  seems  not  less  true  upon  reflec- 
tion than  for  the  facts  and  practice  of  the  law,  or 
medicine,  or  engineering.  Along  with  teaching,  these 
and  others  that  will  occur  to  the  reader  are  the  sci- 
ences that  differ  from  the  sciences  of  botany,  physics, 
chemistry,  meteorology  or  electricity;  inasmuch  as  these 
are  concerned  with  the  laws  of  their  respective  phe- 
nomena without  reference  to  any  other  end  to  be  at- 
tained. Those,  on  the  contrary,  are  conditioned,  both 
as  to  the  selection  of  material  and  its  arrangement  or 
organization,  by  a  direct  reference  to  a  coveted  result 
to  be  achieved.  Those  two  relations  of  educational 

207 


208  Science  of  Education 

science  should  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  by  the  reader 
—viz.,  that  this  science  is  one  which  derives  its  ma- 
terials from  a  variety  of  sources,  and  that  it  is  what 
has  been  called  a  normative  science,  i.e.,  it  has  refer- 
ence, both  in  its  construction  and  in  its  derivative  art, 
to  the  accomplishment  of  specific  results. 

(1)  Education  has  to  do  primarily  with  human 
growth.  This  is  true  whether  the  consideration  be  of 
education  as  such  or  the  education  that  results  from 
schooling.  All  else  (than  growth)  is  considered  ser- 
viceable only  as  it  (a)  contributes  to  or  (6)  manifests 
this  growth.  Observation,  imitation,  thinking,  play, 
manual  employment,  recitation,  examination,  conduct, 
all  serve  as  either  means  or  exponents  of  this  growth. 
The  act  of  studying  or  of  teaching,  maintenance  of  the 
system,  the  shifting  interests  of  the  child,  can  have  one 
or  the  other  of  these  meanings  only,  or  both.  There 
is  a  great  temptation  with  both  parents  and  teachers 
to  exalt  the  means — books  and  lessons,  things  done 
and  known,  equipments,  rank  in  class,  prizes  won  and 
uniform  deportment,  and  regard  these  as  worthy  of 
attainment  for  themselves.  But  whether  the  child  learns 
much  or  little,  important  facts  only  will  be  retained. 
The  value  of  the  learning  lies  in  the  power  and  interest 
developed.  Curiosity,  observation,  responsibility,  obe- 
dience to  rule,  have  no  virtue  in  themselves,  and  are  to 
be  honored  only  for  the  manliness  they  arouse,  the  self- 
initiative,  the  growth  in  purposeful  doing  and  effec- 
tive interest.  Most  well-directed,  willing  exercise,  the 
interested  pursuit  of  studies,  sight-seeing,  reading,  hand- 


Their  General  Character  209 

work,  play,  companionship,  etc.,  are  helpful  as  con- 
tributing to  this  growth.  But  the  impulse  to  growth 
and  the  condition  of  growth  fix  their  rank  and  value 
as  instruments  only.  So  the  recitation  and  examina- 
tion, and  the  uniform  respect  for  rules,  and  the  char- 
acter of  one's  home  behavior,  and  abiding  or  chosen 
interests,  are  eminently  suggestive  as  manifestations  of 
this  growth,  helpful  to  the  teacher  or  the  parent,  as  they 
give  an  insight  into  what  these  things  are  doing  for  the 
child.  While  the  child  himself  considers  the  lessons 
and  other  interests  as  an  all-sufficient  end,  the  teacher 
must  regard  his  maturing  as  the  important  fact,  and 
all  else  as  valuable  for  one  or  both  of  the  two  reasons 
named — means  or  sign  of  maturing. 

Whatever  is  instrumental  in  effecting  this  growth, 
in  any  degree,  is  educative  and  is  to  be  respected.  Some 
means  are  more  effective  than  others.  Based  upon  this 
difference  in  their  effectiveness  is  the  discriminative  se- 
lection of  means  in  teaching.  Nature  is  able  to  do  much 
for  the  child's  maturing  unaided  by  the  school.  One 
who  sets  himself  up  as  his  guide  and  preceptor  may 
fairly  be  held  to  know,  and  to  use  the  best  means.  He 
is  inexcusable  if  he  does  not  know;  he  is  culpable  if, 
knowing,  he  fails  to  employ  that  best  means.  But, 
while  in  the  science  of  teaching  the  best  only  are  per- 
missible, in  the  science  of  education  all  instruments  that 
really  serve  to  promote  his  development  become  parts 
of  the  science.  As  a  consequence  in  considering  educa- 
tion as  a  generic  process,  and  not  schooling  merely,  the 
means  are  found  to  be  many  and  diverse,  John  Stuart 


210  Science  of  Education 

Mill,  in  defining  education,  said,  "  In  its  largest  accepta- 
tion it  comprehends  even  the  indirect  effects  produced 
on  character  and  the  human  faculties  by  things  of 
which  the  direct  purposes  are  different — by  laws,  by 
forms  of  government,  by  the  industrial  arts,  by  modes 
of  social  life ;  nay,  even  by  physical  facts  not  dependent 
upon  the  human  will;  by  climate,  soil  and  local  posi- 
tion." School  education  is  much  narrower,  though 
resting  upon  the  same  impulses,  and  employing  the  same 
capacities  and  energy.  This  distinction  is  fundamental. 
It  emphasizes  the  basic  fact  of  the  maturing  process,  and 
calls  attention  again  to  this  as  the  organizing  thought 
of  the  science.  In  the  daily  work  of  the  teacher  this 
must  be  kept  constantly  in  mind.  The  limited  time  at 
his  disposal  makes  it  imperative  that  he  employ  the 
best  means  only — the  most  effective  and  the  most 
economical. 

Once  more,  it  should  be  observed  that  to  whatever 
end  this  growth  is  directed,  the  process  is  educational. 
The  act  of  learning  and  the  elements  of  growth  are  the 
same  and  similarly  initiated,  in  a  course  of  vice  as  in  the 
pursuit  of  virtue.  One  learns  to  swear,  just  as  one 
learns  to  be  courteous;  to  pick  pockets,  as  to  fish  or  swim. 
One  may  be  educated  to  do  wrong  as  well  as  do  right. 
With  different  motives,  the  steps  are  the  same  in  ac- 
quiring a  habit  of  idleness,  as  of  industry.  The  pro- 
cess in  each  case  is  toward  a  mastery  of  its  particular 
experience  and  interests,  and  is  distinctively  educa- 
tional. The  function  of  the  school  and  of  parents  is 
to  direct  the  activities  into  lines  of  right  doing,  social 


Their  General  Character  211 

sanities,  physical  health,  industry  and  self-respect.  The 
generic  meaning  of  education,  however,  with  which  the 
science  of  education  concerns  itself,  includes  both  as- 
pects. Indeed,  it  has  come  to  be  recognized  that  an 
insight  into  normal  function  is  often  clarified  by  an 
acquaintance  with  the  pathologies  of  the  mind — the 
wayward,  the  defective,  and  the  undeveloped. 

Finally,  all  growth  is  consequent  upon  (1)  the 
native  impulse — the  subjective,  organic  propensity  to 
unfold;  and  (2)  systematic  direction — purposed  educa- 
tion. The  former  is  the  active  principle  by  virtue  of 
which  the  incidental,  impinging  influences  of  one's  envi- 
ronment are  seized  upon,  assimilated,  and  become  edu- 
cative. It  is,  hence,  the  initial  factor  in  all  mental  cul- 
ture ;  it  is  the  object  of  appeal  in  all  intellectual  stimu- 
lation. The  latter  belongs  to  the  school  chiefly,  or  to 
other  agents  that  perform  a  part  or  all  of  the  functions 
of  the  school,  but  is  wholly  conditioned  by  the  former. 
In  neither  case  can  the  learner  be  said  to  have  any  fore- 
sight of  the  real  end  of  all  this  activity.  The  teacher 
should  have  such  foresight,  and  should  regulate  his  teach- 
ing acts  in  accordance  with  it.  To  the  child,  and  well 
along  in  years,  the  passing  interest  is  all  there  is  to  his 
doing.  To  the  teacher,  the  present  doing  is  but  one  of 
many  possible  doings,  all  looking  to  the  same  end — the 
pupil's  maturing.  He  is  the  wise  teacher  who  best 
knows  how  to  preserve  through  the  years  this  native 
propelling  interest  and  effort — as  a  first  factor,  to  which 
her  own  best  far-seeing  efforts  can  be  only  a  second — a 
feeble,  but  very  necessary  second.  Every  year  during 


212  Science  of  Education 

which  the  enthusiasms  and  eager,  confident  optimism 
and  responsiveness  of  interest  can  be  prolonged  beyond 
mere  childhood  is  so  much  gained  for  the  pupil.  It 
lengthens  the  period  of  acquisition,  and  so  of  rapid 
growth.  Real  alertness  of  mind  after  the  age  of  25 
(as  well  as  before),  means  rich  accumulations  of 
culture  and  abundance  of  life.  Many  of  us  might  quote 
the  words  and  adopt  the  thought  of  the  poet,*  who 
speaks  of  himself  as  "  with  whetted  knives  of  worldli- 
ness,  putting  his  own  child-heartedness  to  death."  He 
says  of  himself  in  manhood : 

"  There  is  no  little  child  within  me  now, 

To  sing  back  to  the  thrushes,  to  leap  up 
When  June  winds  kiss  me,  when  an  apple  bough 

Laughs  into  blossoms,  or  a  buttercup 
Plays  with  the  sunshine,  or  a  violet 

Dances  in  the  glad  dew — alas  !  alas  ! 

The  meaning  of  the  daisies  in  the  grass 
I  have  forgotten. 

For  us  there  is  not  any  silver  sound 

Of  rhythmic  wonder  springing  from  the  ground. 

"  Woe  worth  the  knowledge  and  the  bookish  lore 

Which  makes  men  mummies  ;  weighs  out  every  grain 

Of  that  which  was  miraculous  before, 

And  sneers  the  heart  down  with  the  scoffing  brain. 

Woe  worth  the  peering,  analytic  days 
That  dry  the  tender  juices  in  the  breast, 
And  put  the  thunders  of  the  Lord  to  test 

So  that  no  marvel  must  be,  and  no  praise, 
Nor  any  God  except  necessity. 

*  Richard  Realf.     Poems,  "  My  Slain  Self." 


Their  General  Character  213 

What  can  you  give  my  poor  starved  life  in  lieu 
Of  this  dead  cherub  which  I  slew  for  you  ? 

Take  back  your  doubtful  wisdom,  and  renew 
My  early  foolish  freshness  of  the  dunce 
Whose  simple  instinct  guessed  the  heavens  at  once!  " 

To  have  conserved  for  the  adult  years  so  much  of 
this  curious,  interested,  believing  eagerness  of  the  child- 
hood of  each,  that  the  man,  too,  may  be  a  student,  is 
one  reasonable  function  of  the  school;  that,  along  with 
his  coolness  of  judgment,  and  responsibilities  borne, 
and  chastened  temper,  there  may  go,  also,  something 
of  the  spontaneity  of  the  boy  that  found  joy  in  know- 
ing, and  abounding  pleasure  in  doing. 

(2)  The  constitution  of  the  learner  fixes  the  orders 
or  phases  of  this  growth.  Whether  the  creature  be  a 
plant,  a  beast  or  a  man,  how  it  grows,  or  what  may  be 
done  with  its  growth,  depends  upon  what  the  growth  is. 
The  first  may  be  pruned  and  shaped;  the  second  inured 
or  accustomed;  the  third  educated  or  disciplined.  The 
chief  difference  lies  in  their  unlike  reactions  upon  in- 
fluence. Education,  having  to  do  with  human  growth, 
finds  the  conditions  and  character  of  this  growth  pre- 
determined in  the  character  of  man  as  man.  What- 
ever the  stages,  therefore,  or  characteristics,  these  will 
be  the  same  among  all  classes  and  with  all  individuals; 
whatever  the  race,  or  sex,  or  social  condition,  or  bodily 
health,  or  antecedents,  or  language.  There  will  be 
found  considerable  differences  in  the  rate  of  matur- 
ing, the  physical  or  other  predispositions,  responsive- 
ness to  stimuli,  nervous  energy,  personal  initiative,  etc. 


214  Science  of  Education 

But  the  unlikeness  is  not  at  all  one  of  kind,  but  of  de- 
gree. This  must  be  recognized  of  the  races — as  negro 
and  Caucasian;  of  Western  and  Asiatic  nations;  of  civ- 
ilized and  primitive  peoples. 

At  this  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  when 
millions  of  the  little  more  than  semi-civilized  are  at 
the  back  doors  of  our  Western  civilization,  or  in  our 
midst,  attacked  from  every  side  by  new  influences, 
beset  with  new  standards  of  living,  finding  strange 
motives  prevail,  and  an  infinite  detail  of  life  about 
them;  when  Asiatic,  and  Islander,  and  negro  are  es- 
saying new  institutions,  and  the  white  man's  foreign 
path  is  found,  not  in  the  tropics  alone,  but  in  the  far 
corners  of  the  earth,  teaching  undeveloped  men  the 
ways  of  a  tame  and  domestic  life ;  there  is  afforded  an 
opportunity  for  a  most  promising  study  of  the  processes 
of  education  among  an  emerging  and  growing  people. 
Never  before  in  the  world's  history  has  there  been  such 
convenience  for  the  study  of  the  steps  and  conditions 
of  progress  of  an  improving  race.  The  human  quality, 
which  gives  character  to  the  growth,  is  present  in  all. 
The  capacity  will  be  found  to  vary  greatly,  not  only 
among  individuals,  but  between  the  nations;  so,  of  per- 
sonal energy,  and  the  emphasis  or  bias  of  particular 
faculties.  But  the  generic  human  quality  is  common. 

Once  more,  the  classifications  must  hold,  as  funda- 
mentally true,  for  all  philosophical  systems.  One  or 
another  order  of  growth  may  be  emphasized  as  impor- 
tant by  one  school  of  thinkers,  and  a  different  order  by 
another  school;  but  the  phases  of  growth  are  real,  and 


Their  General  Character  215 

can  only  be  differently  ranked  by  the  several  inter- 
preters. Two  writers,  whose  points  of  view  are  as  un- 
like as  those  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Friedrich  Froebel, 
differ  chiefly  as  to  their  pedagogical  dicta  in  the  dif- 
ferent emphasis  they  place  upon  the  various  functions — 
not  at  all  as  to  their  recognition  of  these  functions. 

Lastly,  the  classification  must  be  such  as  to  be  valid, 
equally,  for  all  ages  of  the  individual.  Here,  again, 
one  or  another  form  of  this  growth  may  characterize 
one  period  of  life;  but  all  are  present  at  each  period. 
Physiologically,  there  is  little  change  that  can  be  called 
development  after  the  age  of  twenty-five.  Intellectu- 
ally, most  habits  are  well  fixed  before  middle  life.  But 
both  these  and  the  material  functions  are  obvious  at 
all  ages  as  human  traits,  and  give  character  to  both 
pedagogical  systems  and  school  practice. 

(3)  These  orders  of  growth  appear  as  three,  and  as 
follows:  (1)  physiological,  (2)  mental  or  intellectual, 
and  (3)  moral.  Rosenkranz  names  them  as:  (1)  physi- 
cal, or  orthobiotics;  (2)  intellectual,  or  didactics;  and 
(3)  practical,  or  pragmatics.  By  Alexander  Bain  they 
are  still  differently  named,  though  not  essentially  unlike 
in  meaning:  (1)  physical,  which,  in  his  system,  is  ex- 
cluded from  education;  (2)  intellectual,  leading  to  psy- 
chology and  true  education;  and  (3)  emotional,  which 
furnishes  the  motive  in  education.  Plato  implies  simi- 
lar notions,  when,  highly  regarding  the  physical  order, 
as  did  all  of  the  Greeks,  he  insists  (see  definition  32, 
p.  34)  that  the  aim  of  education  is,  not  to  make  man 
more  knowing,  simply,  but  more  moral.  Psycholo- 


216  Science  of  Education 

gists,  generally,  have  made  similar  groupings,  though 
they  have  been  variously  named.  In  modern  pedagog- 
ical science,  the  first  appears  rather  as  neural  growth, 
than  as  general  physical  or  physiological  even;  some- 
times, as  psycho-physical.  But  in  terms  of  the  most 
pronounced  materialism  even,  the  phenomena  called 
mental,  however  rooted  in  the  bodily  functions,  are 
regarded  as  distinct.  Lewes,*  who  regards  psychol- 
ogy as  a  branch  of  biology,  says  also :  "  We  say  that 
we  are  both  body  and  mind.  We  know  that  we  exist 
as  objects,  perceptible  to  our  senses,  and  to  the  senses 
of  others;  and  as  subjects,  percipient  of  objects,  and 
conscious  of  feelings.  We  live,  feed,  and  move.  We 
feel,  think,  and  will.  The  solidity,  form,  color,  weight, 
and  motions  of  the  body  constitute  the  objective,  visible 
self.  The  sensations,  ideas,  and  volitions  constitute  the 
subjective  intelligible  self.  Thus  opposed,  there  is  the 
broadest  of  all  possible  distinctions  between  body  and 
mind."  All  agree  in  setting  off  the  knowing  functions 
into  a  somewhat  distinct  class,  though  they  receive  vari- 
ous rating  at  the  hands  of  different  schools. 

Under  the  third  division  are  included  the  conative 
powers,  whether  called  the  will,  or  the  desires,  or  the 
practical  functions.  In  the  context,  Rosenkranz  explains 
his  three  groups  in  terms  of  (1)  life,  (2)  cognition, 
and  (3)  ethics;  and  under  the  second  includes  aesthetic 
training;  as  social,  moral,  religious  and  political  train- 
ing are  regarded  as  elements  of  will  education  or  prag- 
matics. Dr.  Harris  translates  the  three  forms  of  growth 
*  G.  H.  Lewes.  "  Problems  of  Life  and  Mind,"  p.  10. 


Their  General  Character  217 

here   named   into   technical   meaning,    as    (1)    correct 
living,  (2)  correct  thinking,  and  (3)  correct  action. 

As  has  been  seen,  Bain  would  exclude  the  bodily 
functioning  from  educational  considerations,  though 
clearly  recognizing  it  as  a  human  characteristic.  Pro- 
fessor James  *  writes :  "  Desire,  wish,  will  are  states  of 
mind  which  every  one  knows,  and  which  no  definition 
can  make  plainer;"  though  he  insists  that  "effort  of 
attention  is  the  essential  phenomenon  of  the  will" 
(p.  562),  and  that  "  voluntary  movements  must  be  sec- 
ondary, not  primary  functions  of  our  organism."  Most 
mental  acts  are  explained  in  terms  of  neural  change, 
but  they  are  regarded  as  "  mental "  and  not  "  neural." 
Bodily  function,  discrimination  and  the  control  or  pur- 
poseful employment  of  these  represent  three  orders  of 
growth,  all  generally  accepted,  and  all  intimately  con- 
nected with  human  education.  How  they  are  so  con- 
nected and  the  relations  of  each  to  the  other  must  be 
considered  in  the  following  chapter. 

*" Psychology,"  ii,  p.  486. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  DATA   (Concluded) 

As  has  been  indicated  in  previous  paragraphs,  these 
several  orders  of  growths  are  variously  related  in  dif- 
ferent educational  theories,  according  as  one  or  another 
receives  the  emphasis. 

(a)  Education  may  exalt  the  body,  and  material  com- 
fort, and  bodily  skill,  and  strength,  and  efficiency,  and 
magnify  the  value  of  athletics,  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  claims  of  the  spiritual  life. 

(&)  It  may  exalt  the  mind,  as  perceiving,  knowing 
and  thinking  faculty,  and  honor  the  sound  body  as  an 
instrument  only. 

(c)  It  may  set  up  for  its  object  a  realization  of  the 
highest  moral  character,   of  personal   and  social   effi- 
ciency,   and  seek  the  generous  culture  of  associated 
powers,  as  it  contributes  to  this  end. 

(d)  It  may  seek  the  harmonious  and  well  balanced, 
though  not  necessarily  equal  development  of  all  three. 

Naturally,  in  each  of  these  there  may  be  different 
degrees  of  emphasis  put  upon  the  central  factor;  and, 
along  with  these  four  quite  distinct  schools  of  educa- 
tional theory,  there  are  numerous  modifications  of 

218 


General  Character  of  Data  219 

them.  But  of  the  four  groups  each  stands  for  a  fairly 
distinct  interpretation. 

Of  the  first  it  may  be  claimed  that  the  movement  for 
industrial  training  (as  in  the  beginning,  certainly),  that 
sees  in  the  trade  acquired  a  legitimate  end  of  education, 
is  a  phase  of  this  interpretation.  Recent  purposes  in 
manual  training  have  grown  away  from  this  concep- 
tion appreciably,  and  most  persons  immediately  inter- 
ested in  such  work  regard  all  hand  exercises  as  having 
distinct  intellectual  and  social  bearings.  But,  in  actual 
practice,  in  the  shop,  and  using  tools,  this  meaning  is 
often  forgotten,  or  has  never  been  apprehended,  and 
skill  rather  than  resourcefulness  is  the  end  sought  to  be 
attained.  Parents,  the  children  themselves,  and  the  em- 
ploying public,  almost  uniformly  demand  that  the 
school  shall  show  specific  results  in  skill  of  some  sort — 
immediate  efficiency. 

Hence  the  growing  demand  for  the  merely  or  nar- 
rowly "  practical  "  studies  in  schooling.  They  take 
their  rise  in  the  same  notion.  Among  such  branches 
are  book-keeping,  brick-making,  broom-inakinjj,  car- 
pentry, cooking,  dressmaking,  laundry,  millinery, 
painting  (house  or  sign),  plastering,  plumbing,  print- 
ing, sewing,  shoemaking,  stenography,  tailoring,  teleg- 
raphy, typewriting,  and  weaving;  all  found  in  re- 
cent lists  of  such  assignments  for  relatively  elementary 
instruction.  The  introduction  and,  where  tried,  the 
great  success  of  school  savings  banks  are  further  evi- 
dence of  this  emphasis  put  upon  the  first  order  of 
growth.  Physical  training,  also,  both  of  the  more 


220  Science  of  Education 

coarse  and  the  finer  forms,  stands  for  an  especial  im- 
portance attached  to  the  development  of  the  bodily 
functions — strength,  health,  skill,  grace,  agility,  etc. 
All  such  training  has  its  intellectual  reference ;  but  it  is 
evident  that,  in  practice,  at  least,  whatever  may  be  the 
theory,  the  ends  sought  are  physical,  or  physiological, 
at  least  narrowly  practical,  and  it  looks  to  material 
products  and  comforts — not  mental.  Of  course,  there 
are  important  and  wholesome  intellectual  and  moral 
by-products  of  athletics;  but  they  are  by-products, 
rather  than  purposed  aims. 

In  a  similar  sense,  the  very  general  and  zealous 
interest  that  has  been  shown  in  recent  years  in  fur- 
thering instruction  in  the  physiological  effects  of  nar- 
cotics and  stimulants,  and  the  positive  inculcation 
of  temperance  principles,  and  the  renewed  and  ag- 
gressive interest  in  all  questions  of  school  hygiene, 
sanitary  plumbing,  and  heating  and  seating  of  school 
buildings,  and  the  professional  medical  inspection  and 
oversight  of  schools  and  the  general  public,  touching 
conditions  of  health  and  bodily  comfort,  are  forms  of 
this  same  singling  out  of  this  first  order  of  growth  as 
basic  and  worthy  of  first  consideration  in  a  pedagogical 
system.  That  the  school  has  for  its  purpose  to  train 
the  young  for  citizenship,  also,  depreciates,  in  the  aver- 
age mind,  to  the  same  sentiment.  In  the  pragmatic  use 
of  the  term  by  Rosenkranz,  civic  training,  politics  and 
ethics  belong  to  the  third  order  of  growth,  but  the  cur- 
rent conception  of  civics  is  something  far  less  noble. 
That  the  public  schools  should  be  devoted  to  training 


221 

the  youth  for  citizenship,  hints  at  specific  equipment 
rather  than  richer  living,  and  belongs  to  the  first  order. 

The  second  assumption  is  that  education  may  exalt 
the  mind,  as  perceiving,  knowing,  and  thinking  faculty, 
and  honor  the  sound  body  as  instrument  only,  and  the 
will  as  its  executive. 

Primarily,  this  reveals  faith  in  the  regenerative  in- 
fluences of  the  knowing  mind;  that  the  possession  of 
truth  itself  is  a  moral  power.  In  the  history  of  the  race, 
it  appears  that  as  men  have  grown  more  knowing  they 
have  grown  better.  Life  is  safer;  property  is  safer. 
Along  with  the  "  struggle  for  existence,"  there  has  gone 
also,  as  Mr.  Drummond  would  say,  an  increasing 
"  struggle  for  the  existence  of  others."  Considerate- 
ness  and  sympathy  have  appreciated  in  value.  Public 
confidence  between  man  and  man  has  been  shown  in 
innumerable  ways,  and  has  been  justified  by  the  mar- 
vellous growth  of  the  institutional  interests  resting  upon 
this  confidence.  Human  treatment  of  the  defective,  the 
wayward  and  the  afflicted  has  become  the  rule  of  civic 
as  well  as  individual  action.  The  nobler  sentiments 
and  standards  of  conduct  are  in  repute.  Along  with  in- 
crease of  knowledge  has  gone  an  increase  of  moral  in- 
tegrity. The  unrelenting  severity  of  early  legislation 
to  protect  life  and  property  and  reputation  has  been 
much  reduced.  Mere  knowledge,  abundance  of  knowl- 
edge, acquaintance  with  truth  and  its  embodiment  in 
things  and  human  actions,  a  mind  in  vital  touch  with 
fact  and  not  with  opinions  and  prejudices — such  knowl- 
edge seems  to  contain  within  it  a  positive  impulse 


222  Science  of  Education 

toward  correct  living,  i.e.,  correct  thinking  as  stimu- 
lating correct  doing. 

In  any  event,  in  educational  doctrine,  this  emphasis 
of  intellectual  growth  through  acquisition  reveals  a 
confidence  in  the  moral  sanities  of  the  understand- 
ing. This  does  not  always  appear  to  be  confirmed 
in  the  individual  life,  or  in  a  given  neighborhood. 
But  when  considered  broadly  it  is  held  to  be  a  valid 
contention.  The  proposition  also  involves  a  subor- 
dination, in  thought  at  least,  of  the  body,  and  the 
sensuous  life,  and  material  comfort  and  achievement, 
to  the  attainments  of  the  intellectual  life.  For  a  thou- 
sand years  or  more,  the  schools,  both  implicitly  and  in 
words,  have  held  to  their  doctrine  both  in  theory  and 
in  practice,  that  mental  acumen,  abundant  insight,  great 
scholarship,  mental  alertness,  intellectual  power  were 
the  primary  aims  of  education,  all  else  being  incidental. 
The  importance  of  knowledge  has  been  magnified,  and 
education  made  synonymous  with  great  learning. 
Courses  of  study  have  made  an  almost  exclusive  appeal 
to  the  understanding.  Things  and  theories,  and  codes, 
and  creeds,  and  customs,  and  constitutions,  and  achieve- 
ments have  been  studied  only,  and  their  making  or 
practice  has  been  left  to  chance.  Programs  and  re- 
wards, and  tests,  and  honorable  recognition,  have  had  to 
do  with  attainment,  not  right  living. 

Whatever  the  systems  of  doctrine  may  have  taught, 
the  schools  have  stood  almost  solidly  for  the  pre-emi- 
nence of  this  growth  of  the  second  order — the  intellec- 
tual. Matthew  Arnold  said :  "  The  ideal  of  a  general 


General  Character  of  Data  223 

liberal  education  is  to  carry  us  to  a  knowledge  of  our- 
selves and  the  world."  Compayre :  "  Education  is  the 
culture  of  thought  and  reason."  Jevons :  "  It  is  the 
purpose  of  education  so  to  exercise  the  faculties  of  the 
mind  that  the  infinitely  various  experience  of  after  life 
may  be  observed  and  reasoned  upon  to  the  best  effect." 
Ogden :  "  The  end  of  education  is  the  power  or  art  of 
thinking."  Ward:  "Education  means  the  universal 
distribution  of  extant  knowledge."  All  of  which  defini- 
tions, quoted  on  a  previous  page,  like  many  more  that 
might  be  given,  emphasize  the  intellectual  point  of  view 
in  education. 

It  is  obvious  that  with  such  ends  in  view,  the  culture 
of  the  memory  receives  attention,  frequently,  to  the 
neglect,  almost,  if  not  the  contempt,  of  other  functions. 
The  question  at  present  is  not  concerning  the  wisdom, 
the  necessity  of  cultivating  the  memory,  but  of  the  oc- 
casional or  frequent,  and,  in  places,  too  exclusive  atten- 
tion to  it.  The  common  respect  for  "  book-learning," 
and  the  effort  to  "  put  the  individual  in  possession  of 
the  race's  culture,"  and  the  accompanying  machinery 
of  the  schools,  have  had  this  tendency,  almost  without 
exception.  In  the  elementary  schools  it  leads  to  the 
learning  of  lessons,  and,  in  the  higher  schools,  to  indoc- 
trination, the  storing  of  information,  the  exalting  of 
authority,  and,  more  or  less  certainly,  to  the  laxity  of 
personal  effort.  In  this  sense,  it  is  set  over  against  in- 
dividual judgment  and  affirmative  interest. 

On  the  side  of  race  characteristics,  the  cultivation 
of  the  memory  contributes  to  the  achievement  of  a  uni- 


224  Science  of  Education 

form  and  fixed  culture,  conservative  and  traditional; 
to  stable  institutions,  but  unyielding  and  non-progres- 
sive. This  is  exemplified  in  the  Chinese  character  and 
social  order.  On  the  other  hand,  an  emphasis  of  the 
individual  judgment  and  the  creative  powers  of  the 
mind,  rather  than  the  slavish  following  of  authority, 
produces  in  time  a  less  stable  intellectual  and  social 
system,  certainly,  but  one  correspondingly  progressive. 
Both  faculties  are  important,  but  each  is  subject  to 
great  excesses  of  treatment. 

Most  controversial  definitions  or  characterizations  of 
education  seem  formulated  to  combat  what  are  thought 
to  be  the  exaggerations  incident  to  this  second  view  of 
the 'process.  Definitions  (23)  and  (26)  are  literally  of 
this  class.  "  Education,"  said  David  P.  Page,  "  is  de- 
velopment ;  not  instruction  merely,  but  discipline " ; 
and  Dr.  Sheib :  "  The  object  of  education  must  remain 
imperfectly  defined,  so  long  as  there  is  not  a  clearly  ex- 
pressed intention  of  making  the  future  man  or  woman 
a  moral  power;  of  conferring  true  worth  upon  the  in- 
dividual." A  too  exclusive  regard  for  intellectual  de- 
velopment tends  to  obscure  the  maturing  of  other 
functions  that  are  important. 

Once  more,  all  industrial  education  that  seeks  to  use 
the  manual  arts  as  occasions  for  intellectual  discrimina- 
tion and  interest  is  of  this  class.  This  is,  perhaps,  the 
prevalent  attitude  of  the  profession  to-day,  touching  the 
value  of  all  constructive  exercises  in  the  schools;  that 
employment  with  the  manual  arts  utilizes  certain  deter- 
mining instincts  of  the  child,  and  so  arouses  the  mind 


225 

to  clearer  perception  and  judgment,  and  stimulates  the 
creative  powers,  to  the  degree  that  the  employment 
becomes  primarily  a  mental  process,  and  only  incident- 
ally mechanical.  The  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  intel- 
lectual effort  and  alertness,  not  upon  the  manual  skill. 
So,  a  like  intelligent  and  conservative  practice  of  ath- 
letics, and  calisthenic  and  gymnastic  exercises  is  refer- 
able to  this  interpretation. 

There  are  intellectual  reactions  in  all  systematic  ath- 
letic exercises;  often,  quick  and  accurate  vision,  clear 
thinking,  a  ready  understanding  and  right  interpreta- 
tion of  play  conditions,  etc.  But  the  chief  value,  per- 
haps, aside  from  the  strength,  agility  and  endurance 
acquired,  lies  on  the  ethical  side,  which  will  be  discussed 
elsewhere.  The  finer  mental  effects  are  connected  with 
the  general  calisthenics,  and  the  regular  exercise  of  the 
gymnasium;  health  and  soundness  and  responsiveness 
of  bodily  functions  being  desired  immediately  for  them- 
selves, but  ultimately  for  the  wholesome  reactions  upon 
the  mind. 

The  third  assumption  named  is,  that  among  the  pos- 
sible forms  of  human  growth,  education  may  have  for 
its  object  a  realization  of  the  highest  moral  character, 
and  further  the  generous  culture  of  associated  powers, 
as  they  contribute  to  this  end.  Of  the  definitions  given 
on  pp.  34-39,  three  include  specific  mention  of  the 
moral  faculty  as  an  object  of  concern  in  education; 
and  six,  in  various  terms,  name  its  development  as  the 
essential  fact.  By  some  this  appears  to  be  held  as  a 
religious  issue,  by  others  as  ethical  or  social.  Again, 


226  Science  of  Education 

it  is  purity  of  personal  life  that  is  insisted  upon;  integ- 
rity of  character,  a  fine  sense  of  duty  and  devotion  to 
the  right.  But  among  them  all,  and  by  many  others 
whose  words  have  not  been  quoted,  the  highest  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  personal  worthiness  as  concerns  the 
good,  the  right,  a  proper  sense  of  decency,  social  re- 
sponsibilities, and  devotion  to  one's  highest  ideals,  as 
ends  to  be  aimed  at  in  all  directed  education.  The  an- 
cient Hebrew  ideal  was  that  men  might  become  faithful 
servants  of  Jehovah;  Aristotle's,  the  attainment  of  hap- 
piness through  perfect  virtue;  Luther's,  more  effective 
service  in  Church  and  State ;  Comenius's,  to  attain  eter- 
nal happiness  in  and  with  God;  Francke's,  to  prepare 
for  a  life  of  usefulness  and  piety;  Froebel's  (as  already 
noted),  "  the  realization  of  a  faithful,  pure,  inviolate, 
and  hence  holy  life."  Nominally,  at  least,  this  is  the 
avowed  ground  for  separate  Catholic  instruction.  In- 
deed, it  is  the  attitude  of  the  Protestant  Church,  as  a 
Church,  and  the  essential  character  of  its  pulpit  teach- 
ing. "  The  Church  alone,"  says  Brother  Azarias,  "  is 
competent  to  pronounce  upon  the  teachers  and  guaran- 
tee their  accuracy  in  the  matter  of  faith  and  morals." 
An  occasional  Protestant  protest  against  the  present- 
day  tendency  toward  the  secularizing  of  schooling  is 
in  the  same  spirit. 

The  experiences  of  mankind  are  various;  some  of 
them  regard  a  moral  quality  in  acts,  i.e.,  have  to  do 
with  the  factor  of  Tightness  and  wrongness.  Some  of 
them  are  indifferent  to  this  quality.  In  child-life  the 
latter  predominate.  As  one  grows  older  these  become 


General  Character  of  Data  227 

relatively  fewer,  those  more  numerous.  This  is,  with- 
out doubt,  the  tendency  of  all  right  education — so  to 
moralize  the  life  that  experiences  which  should  share 
this  meaning  are  so  recognized. 

Now  this  conception  of  acts  as  right  or  wrong,  good 
or  bad,  has  a  threefold  reference:  there  are,  first,  the 
duties  to  one's  self — education,  conscientiousness,  con- 
sistency, self-respect,  etc. ;  second,  his  obligations  to 
his  fellows;  and,  finally,  his  relations  of  reverence 
toward  the  universal  principle  of  good — the  power 
that  makes  for  righteousness.  The  last  comprises 
the  field  of  religion;  the  second,  ethics;  the  first, 
self-duties.  Each  of  these,  under  the  third  order 
of  growth,  may  be  taken  as  the  central  aim  of  edu- 
cation. The  generic  term  for  the  whole,  as  here 
used,  is  morality — having  to  do  with  the  conduct  of 
man  toward  those  of  his  kind.  All  attention,  in  edu- 
cation, directed  upon  the  soul  life  and  the  higher  spir- 
itual qualities,  as  distinct  from  mere  intellectual  train- 
ing, is  of  the  third  type;  the  growth  of  the  mission 
spirit,  social  co-operation,  considerateness  for  others, 
and  an  increase  of  personal  characteristics  in  conduct, 
are  aspects  of  ethical  progress;  worshipfulness,  rever- 
ence, devoutness,  belong  to  the  first.  The  function  of 
the  Church  is  to  exalt  the  qualities  which  worshipfulness 
typifies.  The  tendency  of  progressive  contemporary 
schooling  is  to  emphasize  the  second.  The  duty  of  the 
school  to  socialize  the  child  is  a  part,  at  least,  of  the 
present-day  school's  pedagogical  creed. 

There  never  was  a  time,  probably,  when  religion  had 


228  Science  of  Education 

less  positive  and  more  effective  incidental  attention  in 
the  schools  than  to-day.  There  certainly  never  was  a 
time  when  the  child's  ethical  nature  received  so  much  or 
so  wise  encouragement.  This  is  conceded  to  the  needs 
of  the  child,  not  to  the  needs  of  society.  So  education 
should  be  made  essentially  and  purposely  religious  for 
the  individual,  because  it  is  important  to  him,  not 
to  the  Church  to  have  it  so.  Among  educational 
theories  education  may  have  for  its  object  a  realization 
of  the  highest  moral  character,  and  foster  the  gen- 
erous culture  of  associated  powers  as  they  contribute 
to  this  end. 

Finally,  education  may  seek  the  harmonious  and 
balanced,  though  not  necessarily  equal,  development  of 
all  orders  of  growth.  This  conception  is  suggested  in 
Herbart's  phrase,  "  a  balanced  many-sidedness  of  in- 
terest" Of  the  forty-eight  definitions  quoted,  seven 
specifically  name  the  several  organic  functions,  and 
three  others  very  plainly  imply  them.  A  dozen  others 
evidently,  but  less  definitely,  make  the  same  suggestion. 
Plato  certainly  had  the  same  thought  when  he  wrote 
of  "  giving  to  the  body  and  the  soul  all  the  perfection 
of  which  they  are  susceptible,"  as  being  the  aim  of 
education.  In  more  than  a  merely  nominal  sense  this 
has  been  the  theory  of  the  centuries,  to  make  education 
comprehensive  of  all  important  functions.  But,  for 
long  periods  in  the  history  of  the  race,  now  one  and 
now  another  of  those  named  have  not  been  highly  re- 
garded in  practice.  In  ascetic  ages  the  body  has  been 
depreciated;  when  religious  fervor  has  dominated,  the 


General  Character  of  Data  229 

culture  of  the  intellect  has  been  undervalued.  Under 
the  influence  of  scepticism  and  protest  the  morals  have 
often  suffered.  Positive  movements  for  the  propor- 
tioned and  reasonable  recognition  of  all  belong  to  com- 
paratively recent  times.  After  the  Greeks  for  nearly 
twenty  centuries  the  bodily  functions  were  practically 
ignored  in  all  training;  throughout  the  Middle  Ages 
the  instruction  of  the  intellect  was  little  more  than  a 
form  of  mental  gymnastics. 

The  modern  demand  for  physical  culture  conies 
(ostensibly)  as  an  attempt  to  proportion  the  results  of 
education  to  heretofore  neglected  functions.  The  words 
of  Huxley  *  formulate  a  creed  that  must  command 
respect :  "  That  man,  I  think,"  he  says,  "  has  had  a 
liberal  education  who  has  been  so  trained  in  youth  that 
his  body  is  the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and  does  with 
ease  and  pleasure  all  the  work  it  is  capable  of;  whose 
intellect  is  a  clear,  cold  logic  engine,  with  all  its  parts 
of  equal  strength  and  in  smooth  working  order,  ready, 
like  a  steam-engine,  to  be  turned  to  any  work,  and  spin 
the  gossamers,  as  well  as  forge  the  anchors,  of  the 
mind ;  whose  mind  is  stored  with  the  great  and  funda- 
mental truths  of  nature  and  of  the  laws  of  her  opera- 
tions; one  who,  no  stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of  life  and 
fire,  but  whose  passions  are  trained  to  come  to  heel  by 
a  vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  tender  conscience ; 
who  has  learned  to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature 
or  of  art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others  as 
himself."  Rousseau  contends  that  "  the  great  secret 
*  Huxley.  "  Science  and  Education,"  p.  86. 


230  Science  of  Education 

of  education  is  to  manage  it  so  that  the  training  of 
the  mind  and  the  body  shall  serve  to  assist  each 
other." 

What  is  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  is  not 
athletics,  but  gymnastics ;  such  physical  training  as  se- 
cures to  every  individual  the,  for  him,  maximum  health, 
and  freshness  of  vigor,  and  joy  in  effort,  to  the  end  that 
his  thinking  and  reasoning  be  clear,  and  his  heart  and 
purposes  chastened,  though  having  to  do  with  sound 
organs.  The  access  of  interest  in  physical,  and  espe- 
cially gymnastic,  training  in  this  country  was  induced 
by  the  experiences  of  the  Civil  War,  just  as  a  similar 
revival  of  such  interests  came  to  Germany  after  the 
Franco-Prussian  war;  but  the  current  tendency,  in 
theory,  if  not  in  athletic  practice,  is  toward  an  orderly 
and  proportioned  stimulus  of  bodily,  mental,  and  civic 
functions,  to  the  end  that  each  shall  reinforce  the  other 
in  the  most  effective  way. 

The  plea  for  art,  and  general  aesthetic  culture  also, 
and  attractive  environment  for  home  and  public  life 
has  a  like  ground  in  a  recognition  of  the  needs  of  the 
manifold  nature  of  man.  The  increase  of  time  given  in 
the  schools  to  art  and  music  and  literature,  and  their 
earlier  commencement  in  the  grades,  and  especially 
their  more  general  introduction  into  the  course  of  study, 
are  signs  of  a  concession,  if  nothing  more,  on  the  part 
of  the  public,  of  art  culture  as  a  legitimate  need.  This 
movement  has  been  supplemented  in  many  schools, 
both  in  urban  and  comparatively  rural  sections,  by  an- 
other which  seeks,  by  collections  of  paintings,  and 


General  Character  of  Data  231 

reprints,  and  statuary,  and  tastefully  designed  and  fin- 
ished architecture,  and  by  library  and  fine-art  illustra- 
tions, and  attempts  at  landscape  gardening,  to  give  the 
public,  and  especially  the  schools,  an  environment 
stimulating  to  the  finer  senses,  and  to  a  love  for  the 
beautiful.  Manual  training  also,  which  is  allied  more 
directly  with  industrial  arts,  has  its  fine-art  reference 
in  all  grades,  and  shares  in  this  meaning.  In  the 
general  effort  to  make  due  recognition  of  each  order 
of  growth,  or  each  type  of  human  faculty,  all  construc- 
tive exercises  have  been  immensely  dignified ;  and  many 
forms  of  intellectual  and  moral  activities  find,  in  this 
handwork,  their  complement  in  expression.  The  plea 
for  industrial  and  fine-art  training  is  a  part  of  the 
prevalent  attempt  to  proportion  the  achievements  of  the 
school  to  an  all-round  education. 

The  charge  laid  at  the  door  of  the  public  schools 
that  they  are  "  godless,"  and  the  arguments  for  and 
defense  of  the  Bible  in  them,  are  a  phase  of  a  similar 
movement — to  equalize  the  claims  of  culture  on  an- 
other side.  The  discussion  as  a  whole,  diverse  as  it  is, 
and  often  antagonistic  or  contradictory,  is  a  serious, 
sometimes  aimless,  often  ill-tempered,  but  on  the  whole 
a  well-meant  endeavor  to  effect  a  development  of  pow- 
ers that  shall  be  really  harmonious  and  balanced,  omit- 
ting no  important  function.  This  paragraph  does  not 
concern  the  soundness  or  unsoundness  of  any  factious 
contention.  It  is  meant  only  that  the  contention  itself 
represents  a  common  desire  to  find  the  legitimate 
grounds  for  an  education  that  shall  be  complete,  and  is 


232  Science  of  Education 

an  encouraging  sign  of  a  growing  public  interest  in 
educational  doctrine. 

Summarizing  these  conditions  on  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  data  of  educational  science,  then:  one's 
conception  of  education  may  exalt  the  attainment  and 
preservation  of  health  and  physical  vigor  and  comfort, 
or  a  disciplined  and  furnished  intelligence,  or  the 
achievement  of  a  high  and  habitually  moral  character, 
or  a  union  of  these  in  a  body  of  mutually  reinforcing 
faculties.  Each  has  had,  and  yet  has,  its  adherents, 
sincere,  capable,  aggressive  advocates,  because  of  whose 
clear  vision  fundamental  educational  doctrine  has 
profited. 

A  science  of  education  will  be  conditioned,  there- 
fore, as  to  form,  by  the  nature  of  the  philosophy 
whence  come  its  interpretations  of  human  life.  The 
first,  in  exalting  the  present  and  material  comfort,  and 
conceding  the  claims  of  expediency,  is  utilitarian  or 
materialistic.  The  second,  finding  the  initiative  in  the 
knowing  mind,  is  scientific  or  rational.  The  third,  in 
the  emphasis  put  upon  moral  and  religious  character, 
is  ethical  or  spiritual.  The  fourth,  aiming  at  a  pro- 
portioned training  of  all  forms  of  human  faculty, 
appears  as  idealistic.  Among  the  authors  whose  defi- 
nitions are  quoted  on  pages  34-39,  Spencer  (as  he  has 
formulated  his  ideas  on  education)  would  fairly  rep- 
resent the  first ;  Jevons  and  Ward  the  second ;  Froebel 
the  third;  and  Emerson  and  Hegel  the  fourth. 

Any  system  of  experience  that  looks  to  particular 
equipment  and  adjustments  is  so  far  utilitarian.  The 


General  Character  of  Data  233 

unaided  education  incident  to  evolution,  as  a  natural 
process,  is  of  this  sort.  It  is  taken  up  with  adjust- 
ments, surviving  because  of  "  fitness  to  survive,"  a 
process  of  "  natural  selection,"  which  environment,  re- 
acting upon  inherited  tendencies,  forces  upon  one. 
Living  is  a  constant  adaptation  to  the  conditions  of  life. 
And  education  comes  to  be  learning  to  live  well  (at 
least  well  enough  to  survive)  the  life — the  best  life 
even  that  is  about  one.  In  the  school,  directed  educa- 
tion seeks  to  accomplish  this  adjustment  with  foresight 
of  the  end  and  with  economy  of  means.  The  teaching 
of  trades,  desirable  conventional  codes,  caste  and  civic 
order,  ceremonies,  particular  knowledge,  skill  in  the 
guise  of  unthinking  habits,  any  selected  practice  of 
goodness  even,  or  standard  of  behavior,  is  an  example 
of  this  philosophic  bias. 

The  second  represents  the  technical  or  academic  bias. 
Learning  is  valued  for  its  own  sake;  not  information, 
but  knowledge ;  ideas  organized  into  power  for  culture. 
In  this  spirit  is  has  been  said,  "  Learning  is  the  mother 
of  all  virtue;  all  vice  proceeds  from  ignorance."  In 
the  Renaissance,  after  the  long,  dark  period  of  the 
middle  centuries,  learning  came  upon  Europe  like  ver- 
nal showers.  It  was  the  tangible  expression  of  a  bene- 
diction. It  was  not  strange  that  the  intellect  was 
exalted.  So  much  had  been  known  that  was  lost  to  the 
people,  so  much  might  be  regained.  He  who  knew 
became  the  teacher.  Learning  was  following.  Educa- 
tion meant  scholarship.  Knowledge  was  exalted;  it 
promised  to  be  reformation;  it  became  conservative. 


234  Science  of  Education 

But  down  through  the  generations  of  the  modern  age 
the  thought  has  persisted  that,  if  made  liberal  enough, 
and  universal  enough,  its  reactions  would  touch  the 
will  also,  and  the  heart,  and  make  men  good.  Presi- 
dent Eliot  says,*  "  The  three  functions  of  universities 
are:  to  teach  truth,  to  accumulate  stores  of  knowl- 
edge (libraries),  and  to  search  for  new  truth."  With- 
unimportant  exceptions,  school  and  university  educa- 
tion is  still  of  this  sort  Compulsory  schooling,  and 
prescriptive  courses,  and  academic  endowments,  and 
lecture  halls,  and  the  book  habit,  are  evidences  of  the 
contemporary  faith  in  the  power  of  learning  to  regen- 
erate the  man.  Enthusiasts  in  exact  knowledge,  pro- 
fessional philanthropists,  the  universities  generally,  and 
propagandists  of  every  sort,  busy  themselves  upon  the 
principle  that  there  is  an  efficient  margin  of  saving 
faith  in  learning  as  such,  provided  only  it  be  real 
learning.  This  is  the  rational  theory  and  belongs  pri- 
marily to  the  study  and  the  laboratory.  For  advanced 
students  the  view  has  much  in  its  favor. 

The  third  philosophy  places  the  emphasis  upon 
wholeness  and  wholesomeness  of  personal  character. 
In  its  best  import  this  does  not  mean  ceremonial  good- 
ness, or  ecclesiastical  connection,  or  devotion  to  conven- 
tional creeds  or  codes,  though  the  practice  easily  de- 
generates into  one  or  all  of  these.  It  does  mean  the 
earnest  soul  and  the  furnished  mind  dedicated  to  good- 
ness and  right.  Often,  too  often,  the  emphasis  is  upon 
the  goodness;  forgetting  both  the  moral  energy  and 

*  "Educational  Reform,"  p.  226. 


General  Character  of  Data  285 

the  mental  furnishing;  forgetting  that  ignorant  piety 
which  has  neglected  opportunities  to  take  on  wisdom  is 
neither  creditable  nor  safe.  Moral  soundness,  unsup- 
ported by  an  improving  understanding,  is  already  on 
the  road  to  decay.  The  wisdom  and  understanding 
which  Solomon  asked,  and  which  were  granted  him, 
are,  in  more  than  sixty  texts  of  the  Hebrew  and  Chris- 
tian Bibles,  coupled  with  the  Tightness  of  heart  that 
brought  commendation.  Together  they  stand  for  an 
integrity  of  character  and  devotion  to  high,  unselfish 
ideals  that  may  well  command  respect.  This  has  been 
called  the  spiritual  or  ethical  view,  in  accordance  with 
which  the  purposes  of  the  teacher,  the  spirit  of  the 
system,  and  the  method  of  instruction  converge  upon 
the  production  of  the  typical  man,  in  a  moral  sense. 

The  fourth  form  of  philosophy  is  the  abstractly 
idealistic  and  regards  each  order  of  growth  with  indif- 
ference, as  compared  with  the  others;  i.e.,  what  is 
sought  as  an  ideal  result  in  education  is  a  free  com- 
merce of  interests  in  the  individual,  and  each  function 
brought  to  its  highest  state  of  efficiency  in  terms  of  the 
other.  Here  "  the  harmonious  and  equable  evolution 
of  human  powers  "  is  set  up  as  the  ideal ;  the  emotions, 
the  understanding,  and  the  will;  thinking,  expression, 
and  appreciation;  body,  mind,  and  heart — all  to  be  so 
recognized  and  so  exercised  as  to  effect  an  integral 
character  of  purpose  and  achievement,  responsive  to 
truth,  sensitive  to  the  beautiful,  devoted  to  the  good. 

The  recent  considerable  extension  of  the  school  courses 
of  every  grade  is  probably  a  more  or  less  conscious 


236  Science  of  Education 

effort  to  round  out  the  circle  of  the  student's  funda- 
mental activities.  So  there  appears  in  even  the  ele- 
mentary programmes,  music,  art,  industrial  training, 
literature,  history,  civics,  personal  and  public  hygiene, 
science,  the  humanities,  foreign  languages,  current 
events,  morals,  and  collateral  studies  of  manifold  sorts, 
prescribed  in  addition  to  the  original  courses.  Dis- 
ciplinary studies  are  supplemented  by  the  utilities; 
physical  training  is  made  to  parallel  mental  training; 
certain  schools  of  pedagogy  are  drawing  attention  to 
the  cardinal  significance  of  moral  training;  in  various 
ways  we  are  reminded  that  some  form  of  expression  is 
vital  to  all  experience,  that  education  is  fundamentally 
a  social  fact,  and  that  among  child  traits  the  aesthetic 
sense  is  generic  and  primary.  Philosophic  criticism  is 
evidently  reaching  for  some  central  principle  that  shall 
unify  the  seemingly  conflicting  claims  while  being  all- 
inclusive  of  essentials.  The  system  is  ideal  and  crit- 
ical. As  never  before  the  influences  of  education  are 
being  tried  upon  the  wayward  and  criminal  classes, 
the  feeble-minded  and  the  backward  races.  Ordered 
industrial  training  is  being  taxed  for  moral  and  intel- 
lectual results.  The  teachings  of  history  are  appealed 
to  for  guidance  to  conduct  and  a  liberal  interpretation 
of  creeds  and  codes.  The  sense  of  brotherhood  grows, 
and  the  ascetic  temper  fades.  Whatever  the  philosophy, 
these  ideas  have  become  forces  in  most  educational 
theory  and  in  much  school  practice.  The  conception  is 
doubtless  of  ideal  ends  along  with  very  unideal  condi- 
tions, but  the  situation  is  encouraging. 


four 

CONTRIBUTING   SCIENCES 


CHAPTER  XVH 
THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  RELATIONS  OF  MIND 

IN  his  "Manual  of  Ethics,"  Prof.  John  S.  Mac- 
kenzie makes,  and  admirably  expresses,  a  serviceable 
distinction  between  what  are  called  normative  sciences* 
and  others,  as  follows :  "  A  science,  it  is  said,  teaches 
us  to  know,  and  an  art  to  do;  but  a  normative  science 
teaches  us  to  know  how  to  do;  .  .  .  it  is  a  kind 
of  science  that  has  a  very  direct  relation  to  a  corre- 
sponding art  There  is  scarcely  any  art  that  is  not 
indirectly  related  to  a  great  number  of  different  sci- 
ences. The  art  of  painting,  for  instance,  may  derive 
useful  lessons  from  the  science  of  optics,  anatomy, 
botany,  geology,  and  a  great  variety  of  others.  The 
art  of  navigation,  in  like  manner,  is  much  aided  by 
the  sciences  of  astronomy,  .magnetism,  acoustics,  hydro- 
statics, etc.  But  such  relationships  are  comparatively 
indirect.  The  dependence  of  an  art  upon  its  corre- 
sponding normative  science  is  of  a  very  much  closer 
Character."  Astronomy  is  the  foundation  of  the  art 
of  ocean  navigation,  calendar-making  and  uses,  chro- 
nology, etc.  Medicine  refers  habitually  to  physiology, 

*  "The  Sciences  that  Lay  Down  Rales  or  Laws,"  p.  8. 


240  Science  of  Education 

botany,  chemistry;  teaching  to  physiology,  psychology, 
ethics,  logic,  etc.  The  more  general  science  of  educa- 
tion is  comprehensive  of  facts  and  principles  derived 
from  these  last  and  certain  other  sciences.  It  is  com- 
plex, and  the  relations  between  this  and  its  contributing 
sciences  are  not  always  immediately  discernible.  That 
there  are  such  connections  of  dependence  will  appear 
in  the  discussion. 

The  purpose  of  this  division  of  Part  IV  is  to  in- 
ventory and  essay  a  consideration  of  the  constituent 
materials  of  the  science  of  education,  regarding  at  the 
same  time  their  sources  and  organizations. 

The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind 

Whatever  be  the  philosophy,  educational  science  must 
gather  one  class  or  group  of  materials  from  a  study  of 
the  physiological  conditions  of  life  and  experience.  It 
has  been  affirmed  in  preceding  chapters  that  education 
has  to  do  primarily  with  the  mind.  The  thesis  here 
submitted  does  not  weaken  that  contention.  Man  recog- 
nizes himself  as  both  body  and  mind,  so  related  that 
each,  in  its  way,  is  dependent  upon  the  other.  Through- 
out the  history  of  the  science  of  psychology  this  has 
been  taken  for  granted.  But  within  the  last  generation 
respect  for  the  physiological  phenomena  has  been  much 
increased.  Psychology,  formerly  defined  and  generally 
regarded  as  the  science  of  mind  or  soul,  has,  in  recent 
ventures,  been  characterized  rather  as  the  science  of 
mental  activities,  or,  later  still,  as  the  science  of  the 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     241 

phenomena  of  consciousness.  Mr.  Sully  says  "  its  aim 
is  to  give  an  account  of  the  phenomena  of  developed 
consciousness  as  it  manifests  itself  in  man."  Professor 
James  speaks  of  it  as  "  the  science  of  mental  life,  both 
of  its  phenomena  and  their  conditions."  Mr.  Dewey 
defines  it  as  "  the  science  of  the  facts  or  phenomena  of 
self."  Mr.  Bascom,  in  his  science  of  mind,  says: 
"  States  of  brain  at  all  times  affect  and  sometimes  con- 
trol states  of  mind."  Dr.  Jastrow  affirms  that  "  psy- 
chology studies  the  recognized  and  explicable  phases  of 
mental  phenomena." 

In  part  the  change  is  one  of  nomenclature;  in 
part  it  is  a  shifting  of  the  point  of  view.  As  the 
subject  becomes  less  speculative  and  more  scientific 
the  emphasis  is  transferred  from  a  consideration  of 
the  nature  of  the  mind,  or  the  self,  or  the  ego,  to 
the  conditioned  states  of  consciousness  or  to  their 
changes.  As  certain  of  the  physiological  functions  are 
found  to  "  affect  or  control  these  states  or  changes," 
increasing  attention  is  given  to  a  study  of  the  bodily 
conditions  that  underlie  or  accompany,  or  follow,  the 
activities  called  mental.  The  phenomena  of  the  two 
sets  are  altogether  different,  but  related,  and  related 
in  such  way  that,  as  even  Spencer  says,*  in  psychol- 
ogy, "  the  thing  contemplated  is  not  the  connection  be- 
tween the  internal  phenomena,  nor  is  it  the  connection 
between  the  external  phenomena,  but  it  is  the  connec- 
tion between  the  two  connections."  This  physiological 
concomitant  is  found  chiefly  among  the  phenomena  of 

*H.  Spencer.     "Principles  of  Psychology,"  i,  p.  132. 


242  Science  of  Education 

the  nervous  system  and  contributes  certain  data  for  the 
science  of  education. 

(1)  Primarily  the  body  must  be  considered  the 
source  of  nervous,  and  so  mental,  energy.  Its  condi- 
tions of  soundness  and  vigor  react  upon  the  mind. 
u  Mens  sana  habitat  in  corpore  sano,"  as  currently 
employed,  is  only  another  form  for  the  expression: 
"  The  sounder  the  body,  the  sounder  the  mind."  And 
the  plea  for  physical  exercise,  gymnasium  training, 
calisthenics,  right  hygienic  school  and  home  conditions, 
and  the  movements  in  the  great  cities  for  free  lunches 
to  school  children  in  certain  sections,  and  for  play- 
grounds and  vacation  schools,  are  all  primarily  in  the 
interest  of  clearer  thinking  and  more  natural  growth; 
possibly  of  clearer  thinking  and  better  living  because 
of  more  natural  growth.  In  a  condition  of  abounding 
energy  the  mind  acts  under  the  push  of  an  aggressive 
inertia.  It  works  freely,  and  easily,  and  effectively. 
The  store  of  nervous  force  has  a  "  head  "  of  gravity 
that  reinforces  personal  effort.  A  badly  nourished  or 
over-mechanized  nervous  system  easily  balks  at  dicta- 
tion or  difficulty.  Those  interested  in  schooling  are 
primarily  concerned  to  put  pupils  into  the  most  respon- 
sive vigorous  physical  condition,  assured  that  the  mind, 
in  all  its  varied  functions,  will  share  in  the  richer 
returns  of  this  fertile  life. 

Along  with  a  recognition  of  this  relation  many  cir- 
cumstances otherwise  unnoticed  become  important  to 
the  teacher.  Conditions  of  climate  and  weather,  tem- 
perature, food,  and  air  affect  the  mind  through  the 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     243 

body.  Discomforts  arising  from  any  of  these  disturb 
all  persons  more  or  less,  and  children  particularly.  A 
school-room  too  warm  or  too  cold,  or  supplied  with 
vitiated  air,  or  furnished  with  seating  of  unfit  size 
or  arrangement,  quickly  disturbs  the  mental  life  of 
both  pupils  and  teacher.  So  too  much  exercise  or  too 
little,  or  exercise  of  an  unwise  character  or  such  as 
brings  into  use  certain  parts  of  the  body  only,  neglect- 
ing others,  has  a  like  evil  effect. 

Notice  also  should  be  taken  of  the  depressing  influence 
of  the  invalid  or  decrepit  body  upon  the  mind,  and  the 
subordination  of  many  intellectual  interests  during  peri- 
ods of  rapid  physical  growth.  This  latter  is  particularly 
true  of  the  child  upon  the  approach  to  the  adolescent 
period.  Many  of  the  organs  are  undergoing  important 
changes.  The  framework  tissues  claim  an  increase  of 
blood.  Along  with  the  restlessness  of  mind  at  this 
period  there  is  a  conditioning  restlessness  of  body. 
There  is  a  passion  for  athletics,  and  physical  achieve- 
ment, and  venture.  Appetite  changes.  "  Both  parts 
and  powers,"  says  Dr.  Hall,  "  develop  disproportion- 
ately, so  that  cohesion  is  weakened  and  physical  unity 
impaired."  Great  physical  changes  take  place  in  the 
circulation,  and  a  consequent  increase  in  weight  and 
size.  The  constructive  metabolism,  a  very  natural 
physical  process  of  the  normal  body,  introduces  for  the 
period  an  element  of  disturbance  into  all  neural  reac- 
tions. An  accompaniment,  if  not  a  result  of  it  all,  is 
an  arrest  of  mental  efficiency  and  persistence,  or  at 
least  a  diversion  of  these  into  unfamiliar  channels. 


244  Science  of  Education 

Precocious  development  of  the  physical  functions  pecul- 
iar to  this  age  often  leads  to  temporary  weakening  and 
always  to  a  disturbance  of  the  mental  functions.  As 
set  over  against  all  of  these  bodily  pullings  and  push- 
ings,  there  must  not  be  ignored  the  mental  effect  of  an 
abundant  physical  energy  that,  free  from  inordinate 
stimulation,  extends  itself  naturally,  not  precociously, 
and  reinforces  the  mental  reactions  by  a  sound  body. 

Let  it  be  granted,  then,  that  an  effective  mental  life 
requires  the  support  of  a  proportioned  and  wholesome 
physical  energy.  That  this,  "  a  sound  mental  life,"  is 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  all  directed  physical  training. 
That,  with  the  young  especially,  no  effective  mental 
work  can  be  expected  of  pupils  acting  under  phys- 
ical discomfort.  That  the  adolescent  period  calls  for 
much  patient,  far-seeing  concession  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher. 

(2)  In  another  and  important  sense  the  body  is  de- 
pendent upon,  and  is  the  servant  of,  the  mind.  This  is 
most  obvious  in  the  general  management  of  the  body,  in 
walking,  grasping,  talking,  and  in  the  use  one  makes 
of  the  physical  senses,  etc.  The  most  expert  automa- 
tism of  the  fingers,  and  the  organs  of  speech,  and 
vision,  and  touch,  has  behind  it  a  persistent  and  more 
or  less  purposeful  mental  effort.  Each  may  be  again 
translated  into  mental  doing.  Each  has  meaning  to 
the  degree  that  it  reflects  such  doing  and  permits  this 
retranslation  upon  occasion.  This  means  that  one  sees 
what  one  wills  to  see  or  has  fitted  himself  to  see.  All 
perception  involves  thinking;  is  rich  to  the  extent  that 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     245 

it  uses  thinking;  ia  fruitless  as  it  stops  short.  Th6 
presence  of  the  understanding  reveals  itself  in  all 
manipulations  that  involve  skill.  Children,  with  all 
their  activity,  their  restless,  ceaseless  movement,  are 
clumsy  in  delicate  fingering  or  bodily  management. 
Each  becomes  skilful  as  it  has  been  thoughtful,  and  may 
be  made  thoughtful  again.  Hearing  and  touch,  not  less 
than  seeing,  become  discriminating  as  they  involve  or 
have  involved  thinking  as  a  factor  in  their  training. 
In  walking  or  sitting  the  general  grace  of  the  body  is 
the  measure  of  the  amount  of  mind  in  it.  Nothing  is 
clearer  to  the  reflective  observer  than  that  physical 
beauty  of  the  face  and  person  is,  in  the  final  analysis, 
a  product  of  the  mind's  dominance.  Otherwise  plain 
features  are  given  a  unity  of  meaning  and  attractive 
significance  by  the  intelligent  and  sincere  intent  of  the 
mind.  "  Pretty  is  as  pretty  does,"  is  only  a  common- 
place statement  of  a  common-sense  thought,  sound  as 
it  is  common,  that  real  beauty  is  more  than  "skin  deep," 
and  is  a  revelation  in  form  and  feature  and  carriage 
of  the  mind's  purity  and  ingenuousness  behind. 

It  has  already  been  hinted  that  all  forms  of  phys- 
ical training  look,  on  one  side,  to  clearer  thinking. 
In  another  sense,  a  very  real  purpose  of  all  such  train- 
ing is  to  give  the  mind  the  best  possible  instrument 
of  expression.  One  characteristic  of  a  liberally  edu- 
cated man,  in  the  phrase  of  Professor  Huxley,  quoted, 
is  that  he  shall  have  been  so  "  trained  in  his  youth  that 
his  body  is  the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and  does  with 
ease  and  pleasure  all  the  work  that,  as  a  mechanism,  it 


246  Science  of  Education 

is  capable  of."  *  That  is  wise  training  for  the  body 
which  holds  it  responsible  for  all  the  mind's  accuracy. 
Neatness  of  school  work,  of  dress  and  manners,  of 
movement  and  speech,  facility  in  manipulation  and 
docility  of  demeanor,  are  not  ends  in  themselves,  but 
means  toward  a  coveted  mental  acumen  and  care,  and 
an  aid  to  the  mind's  adequate  utterance. 

As  corollaries  of  the  foregoing  characterization  of 
the  mind  as  actively  reacting  upon  the  body  the  fol- 
lowing principles  are  derived: 

Early  mechanize  in  the  body  right  habits  of  doing 
and  behavior,  that  it  may  become  the  ready  and  efficient 
servant  of  the  mind.  Thoughtful,  discriminating  sense- 
perception  is  the  only  fruitful  sense-perception.  The 
coarser  muscular  movements  should  be  recognized  as 
preceding  the  finer  and  more  complex  ones.  The  child's 
bodily  movements  must  be  an  expression  of  the  child's 
own  discrimination. 

(3)  Another  important  relation  existing  between  the 
body  and  the  mind  is  that  which  is  known  as  disposition 
or  temperament.  This  is  not  easily  denned  or  classified 
accurately,  and  yet  it  betokens  a  mutual  dependence 
that  is  generally  recognized.  Psychologists  of  all 
schools  and  all  times  have  given  it  place  in  their  sys- 
tems. It  is  even  more  important  in  a  pedagogical 
than  in  a  scientific  sense,  perhaps.  It  is  a  condition- 
ing element  in  almost  every  act  of  teaching.  As  a 
"  natural  disposition,"  it  constitutes  a  differentiating 
factor  among  individuals.  Ladd  describes  it  as  "  any 

*  Huxley.     "  Science  and  Education,"  p.  86. 


The  Physiological  Relation*  of  Mind     247 

marked  type  of  mental  constitution  and  development 
which  seems  due  to  inherited  characteristics  of  the  bod- 
ily organism  " ;  and  he  says :  *  "  Such  disposition  con- 
stitutes a  predominating  disposition  to  feel,  think,  and 
act  in  certain  forms,  rather  than  others,  among  the 
many  that  are  conceivable.  The  conviction  that  the 
disposition  of  the  individual  is  innate  and  inherited, 
rather  than  the  result  of  training  or  environment,  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  it  appears  with  consid- 
erable strength  in  childhood,  and  generally  maintains 
itself  under  great  alterations  of  circumstances,  and 
against  effort,  to  the  close  of  life."  Under  a  study  of 
"  the  relations  of  mental  action,"  Bascom  f  says  that, 
"  as  the  body  is  at  once  the  medium  by  which  the  im- 
pressions reach  the  mind,  the  source  whence  the  strength 
for  their  consideration  is  secured,  and  the  instrument 
by  which  its  ...  conclusions  are  expressed,  the 
importance  of  the  physical  conditions  of  mental  activity 
cannot  easily  be  overstated  nor  be  too  carefully  inquired 
into  " ;  and  elsewhere  adds  that,  as  "  the  nutritive  and 
nervous  systems  are  most  intimately  associated  with 
the  mind,  .  .  .  the  different  temperaments  cause 
essentially  the  same  faculties  to  exhibit  very  different 
degrees  of  force." 

Herbart  ^  also  speaks  of  "  this  original  peculiarity 
— so-called   temperament  " — as  explainable  only    "  by 

*Ladd.     "  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  p.  574. 
f  Bascom.     "Science  of  Mind,"  p.  426. 

J  Herbart.     "  Text-Book  in  Psychology,"  p.  100.    TransL  by  Marga- 
ret K.  Smith. 


248  Science  of  Education 

physiological  predisposition  in  regard  to  feelings  and 
emotions."  On  the  whole,  modern  science,  not  less 
than  the  traditional  philosophy,  recognizes  the  existence 
of  such  predispositions  and  their  influence  in  individual 
development  and  experience.  One  writer  *  co-ordinates 
the  "  common  characteristics  of  temperament "  with 
common  characteristics  of  species,  race,  family,  nations, 
and  sex,  including  all  of  these  among  "  general  physical 
inheritances  " ;  affirming  that  "  peculiar  arrangements 
of  the  structure  and  functions  of  the  muscular,  vascular, 
digestive,  nervous,  and  other  sets  of  organs,  secure 
permanent  traits  in  human  character."  Almost  uni- 
versally the  doctrine  implies  the  existence  of  a  perma- 
nent factor  or  condition  which  neither  age,  nor  charac- 
ter, nor  culture  can  greatly  change.  The  primary 
mental  characteristic  seems  to  be  the  individual  varia- 
tions in  emotional  susceptibility;  i.e.,  difference  as  to 
(a)  intensity  and  (&)  duration  of  the  emotion;  also 
differences  in  the  stimulus  needed  to  arouse  a  feeling. 
"  The  greater  the  mind's  wakefulness  to  impressions," 
says  Professor  Ladd,f  "  the  greater,  also,  its  suscepti- 
bility to  the  feelings  of  pleasure  and  pain  incident  to 
the  impressions." 

From  the  earliest  recognition  of  "  temperaments " 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  unanimity  in  the  general 
classification,  along  with  absurd  differences  as  to  their 
origin  and  physiological  meanings.  Ladd  ^  quotes 

•Thompson.     "A  System  of  Psychology,"  i,  p.  393. 

t  Ladd.     u  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  p.  576. 

J  Ladd.     "  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  p.  676. 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     249 

from  Wundt,*  approvingly,  to  the  effect  that  the  famil- 
iar "  fourfold  division  of  the  temperaments  is  correct, 
because,  in  the  case  of  every  individual,  there  must  be 
a  certain  combination  of  the  two  factors  of  strength 
and  speed  (duration  and  intensity)  in  all  change  which 
goes  on  in  the  mental  movements.  The  various  affec- 
tions of  the  mind  are  therefore  classifiable  as  either 
strong  and  quick,  or  strong  and  slow,  or  else  as  weak  and 
quick,  or  weak  and  slow."  The  resulting  relations  he 
tabulates  as  follows: 

STRONG  WEAK 

Quick Choleric  Sanguine 

Slow Melancholic  Phlegmatic 

The  names  used  are  no  longer  significant  in  the  same 
sense  as  given  by  Galen,  to  whom  science  owes  the 
original  classification,  but  they  are  very  generally  used 
in  lieu  of  better  ones.  The  choleric  is  often  called  the 
mercurial  temperament,  as  the  sanguine  is  often  de- 
scribed as  the  jovial.  The  former  is  opposed  to  the 
phlegmatic,  as  the  latter  is  to  the  melancholic.  The 
choleric  is  mercurial,  as  being  active  and  full  of  vigor. 
It  stands  for  the  maximum  of  both  strength  and  quick- 
ness. The  disposition  is  energetic,  self-reliant,  and 
determined.  The  attitude  is  objective  and  executive. 
The  will  being  uppermost,  it  represents  an  individual 
of  affairs.  The  reactions  may  be  slower  than  in  the 
sanguine,  but  more  enduring.  It  hence  means,  nor- 
mally, more  steadiness  of  character.  Sometimes  the 
*  Wundt.  "  Physiologische  Psychologic,"  ii,  p.  345. 


250  Science  of  Education 

receptivity  appears  one-sided,  along  with  great  energy 
in  some  particular  direction,  even  into  a  narrowing 
bias,  with  maybe  great  obstinacy.  On  the  side  of 
readiness  of  reaction  this  temperament  is  allied  with 
the  sanguine;  on  the  side  of  strength,  or  endurance, 
with  the  melancholic.  The  form  known  as  melancholic 
is  now,  perhaps,  more  generally  named  sentimental, 
sometimes  poetic.  The  reactions  are  slow,  but  the  feel- 
ings persistent.  Here,  the  feelings  are  uppermost. 
There  is  a  marked  tendency  toward  subjectivity.  There 
is  little  excitability,  but  great  intensity.  The  imag- 
ination is  likely  to  be  strong.  It  is  accompanied  with 
a  love  of  the  artistic,  of  nature,  of  poetry  and  music. 
There  is  more  or  less  decided  indifference  to  practical 
affairs  and  to  mere  matters  of  fact.  If  possessed  in  an 
abnormal  degree,  the  disposition  may  manifest  itself 
in  a  form  of  indolence  or  of  dreamy  contentment. 

The  sanguine  disposition  is  jovial,  merry,  gay.  The 
feelings  are  ardent,  often  passionate.  Such  person, 
if  religious,  will  be  jealous;  if  an  orator,  fervid,  even 
fiery;  if  wronged,  fierce;  if  sympathetic,  ardently 
affectionate.  Along  with  more  or  less  impetuosity, 
there  goes  a  hopeful,  optimistic  spirit.  Very  sensitive 
to  external  stimuli,  the  feelings  are  not  likely  to  be 
deeply  aroused.  The  character,  while  warm  and  im- 
pressionable, is  often  changeable.  This  temperament 
is  generally  characteristic  of  children  and  of  the  un- 
schooled, and  possesses  great  advantages  in  the  acquisi- 
tive stages  of  culture.  The  mind  is  alert,  irritable  (in 
the  psychological  sense),  responsive,  easily  aroused. 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     251 

On  the  side  of  endurance  this  temperament  is  closely 
related  to  the  phlegmatic,  but  it  is  more  prompt  to 
respond  to  stimulus  than  is  the  sentimental.  In  the 
older  classifications  the  latter  was  the  "  full-blooded  " 
character,  sometimes  called  saturnine  and  lymphatic, 
or  dull  and  grava  The  response  to  excitants  is  slow; 
the  feelings  are  in  abeyance.  The  will  is  uppermost, 
but  lacking  in  force  or  purposed  urgency.  It  is  patient, 
persistent,  self-reliant,  but  generally  heavy  and  some- 
times torpid,  even  sluggish.  It  conduces  to  quiet, 
regular  habits,  self-control,  and  a  general  balance  of 
faculties  that  is  often  very  efficient,  but  comparatively 
lagging  and  out-of-step.  It  stands  for  the  minimum 
of  both  strength  and  speed. 

In  general,  childhood  is  sanguine;  youth,  choleric; 
and  maturity,  melancholic  or  phlegmatic.  Occasionally 
youth  manifests  the  melancholic  or  poetic  temperament. 
During  early  adolescence  an  introspective  bias  is  not 
uncommon.  While  women  are  more  likely  to  betray 
this  same  temperament  or  the  sanguine,  men  are  more 
choleric  or  phlegmatic.  Mr.  Bascom,*  after  noting 
that  the  nutritive  and  nervous  systems  are  most  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  mind,  adds  that  "  great 
impressibility  and  power  in  the  nervous  organization; 
a  preponderance  of  the  nutritive  functions,  giving  a 
full  animal  life ;  nervous  power  well  balanced,  and  well 
sustained  by  the  nutritive  system,  constitute  the  ner- 
vous, phlegmatic,  and  sanguine  temperaments,  which 
greatly  modify  the  measure,  hopefulness,  and  satisfao- 

*  Bascom.     "  Science  of  Mind,"  p.  426. 


252  Science  of  Education 

tion  of  intellectual  efforts,  even  when  the  natural  en- 
dowments of  mind  are  nearly  the  same." 

The  racial  bearings  of  this  question  will  be  consid- 
ered elsewhere;  it  is  in  place  here  to  say  only  that  the 
English  are  a  fair  type  of  the  choleric  temperament 
(combined  often  with  the  phlegmatic)  ;  the  French,  of 
the  sanguine ;  the  Dutch,  of  the  phlegmatic  proper,  and 
the  Japanese,  of  the  sentimental  or  poetic.  In  general 
it  may  be  added  that  the  Latin  races  are  either  san- 
guine or  sentimental;  the  Teutonic,  phlegmatic  or  chol- 
eric. In  both  individuals  and  races  there  are  numerous 
admixtures  of  these  various  dispositions,  and  any  effort 
to  interpret  the  character  in  particular  is  greatly  com- 
plicated by  this  fact.  Nevertheless,  in  most  cases  of 
individuals  a  measurable  predominance  of  one  or 
another  type  form  will  be  found  apparent. 

Certain  pedagogical  observations  follow  as  reason- 
able inferences  from  these  paragraphs.  Primarily  it 
should  be  kept  in  mind  that  individual  temperament 
is  fundamental,  and  conditions  both  learning  and  doing. 
For  acquisition,  the  choleric  and  sanguine  reveal  the 
most,  and  most  helpful,  initiative ;  for  persistent  effort 
and  original  achievement,  the  choleric  and  lymphatic. 
Each  temperament  responds  to  stimulus  differently 
and  calls  for  its  own  peculiar  consideration.  The 
sanguine  makes  difficult  the  fixing  of  a  habit  of  steady 
effort;  the  phlegmatic,  once  aroused,  has  its  own  im- 
petus; the  sentimental  responds  most  readily  to  sub- 
jective ideas.  Each  calls  for  its  own  special  corrective 
incentives.  Each  in  its  best  estate  is  efficient,  and,  in 


The  Physiological  Relations  of  Mind     253 

its  own  sphere,  to  be  respected;  each  has  made  its  own 
characteristic  contribution  to  the  progress  and  achieve- 
ment of  the  race.  One  lends  itself  readily  to  ideals, 
one  to  reflection,  others  to  achievement  and  a  stable 
life.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  recognition  that  the 
work  of  the  world  has  been  done  by  the  steady,  persist- 
ent, sometimes  plodding,  but  vigorous  men  and  women ; 
though  it  will  not  do  to  ignore  the  sensuous,  the  im- 
pulsive, the  idealistic. 

Naturally,  prescriptive  instruction  appeals  to  the 
several  classes  differently,  and,  for  the  best  results, 
should  be  correspondingly  modified.  This  is  the  pri- 
mary ground  for  adjustments  of  occupation  and  train- 
ing to  personal  efficiency.  Similarly  a  fixed  conven- 
tional order  in  society  or  in  the  schools  is  variously 
interpreted  and  unequally  conformed  to  by  the  several 
temperaments;  and,  in  the  growing  child,  and  espe- 
cially the  pupil,  calls  for  reasonable  allowance.  It 
has  been  said  that  "  the  sanguine  and  sentimental 
temperaments  will  give  few  or  no  difficulties  in  disci- 
pline. Treatment  that  is  both  firm  and  kind  ia 
required.  The  choleric  and  lymphatic  temperaments 
need  careful  handling  and  are  those  most  injured  by 
injudicious  teachers."  * 

*  Dexter  and  Garlick.    "Paychology  in  the  School-room,"  p.  344. 


CHAPTER  XVm 
THE    SPECIAL    SENSES 

(4)  ONCE  more,  in  a  study  of  the  physiological  rela- 
tions of  the  mind,  consideration  must  be  had  of  the 
special  senses,  as  the  immediate  physical  conditions  of 
experience. 

It  is  not  by  any  means  recent,  the  recognition  that 
the  matter  of  experience  is  derived  through  the  senses 
and  rests  upon  a  physical  substratum  in  the  bodily  or- 
ganism. Locke  only  gave  striking  expression  to  a  com- 
mon notion  in  his  phrase:  "  There  is  nothing  in  the  in- 
tellect that  was  not  before  in  the  sense."  But  the  em- 
phasis which  both  philosophy  and  psychology  currently 
give  to  this  relation  is  new.  Mr.  Sully  says:*  "Our 
knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  mental  activity  is  con- 
nected with  the  bodily  life  has  been  greatly  advanced 
by  the  recent  development  of  the  biological  sciences, 
and  more  particularly  neurology,  or  the  science  of  the 
normal  functions  and  functional  disturbances,  of  the 
nervous  system.  ...  A  great  deal  of  new  and 
valuable  information  has  been  acquired  quite  recently 
respecting  the  nervous  conditions  of  mental  activity, 
and  we  are  now  able  to  conclude  with  a  high  degree  of 
probability  that  every  psychical  process  or  psychosis 

•Sully.     "  The  Human  Mind,"  i,  pp.  4,  6. 
254 


The  Special  Senses  255 

has  its  correlative  nervous  process  or  neurosis."  "  Out 
of  the  stuff  of  sensations,"  says  Dr.  Dewey,*  "  and  upon 
them  as  data  are  built  both  the  world  as  known  and 
the  self  as  existing.  The  existence  of  sensation  is 
equally  necessary  on  both  subjective  and  objective  sides. 
Without  it  the  self  would  remain  forever  unrealized, 
a  mere  bundle  of  capacities,  and  the  world  would  re- 
main forever  unidealized  or  unknown,  a  mere  blank." 
Between  thinking  that  is  rooted  in  clear  perception  and 
mere  conceptual  thinking  there  is  all  the  difference,  says 
Professor  James,  between  "  knowing  things  and  knowing 
about  things."  All  knowledge,  even  of  the  higher 
forms,  as  reasoning  and  imagining,  sometimes  re- 
motely, but  positively  and  surely,  takes  its  rise  in  the 
senses.  No  abstract  work  of  the  mind  can  be  done 
until  the  senses  have  supplied  the  necessary  materials. 

The  statement  must  obviously  hold  good  for  all  "  na- 
ture studies,"  the  physical  sciences,  and  material  achieve- 
ments. Here  every  sense  is  brought  into  requisition. 
The  primary  tools  of  the  mind  in  the  laboratory  are 
the  senses.  Through  them,  the  understanding  is  acquis- 
itive and  discerning.  Upon  their  deliverances  the  mind 
finds  its  only  reactions.  But  it  is  equally  true  of  the 
language  studies;  hearing,  sight,  and  the  motor  senses 
are  all  involved.  As  an  instrument  of  expression  and 
the  means  of  interpreting  expression,  hearing  ranks  very 
high.  The  raw  material  of  experience  as  to  symbols  ia 
sense-derived.  It  will  be  seen,  then,  to  be  equally  true 
of  the  mathematical  sciences  as  it  is  obviously  true  of 
*  Dewey.  "  Paychology,"  p.  46. 


256  Science  of  Education 

historical  and  social  relations.  Through  hearing  and 
seeing  the  sense  is  a  primary  agent  of  all  social  inter- 
course, both  immediate  and  remote;  not  in  art,  music 
and  speech  alone,  but  in  industrial,  ceremonial  and  con- 
ventional orders.  "  The  sum  of  our  perceptions  forms 
the  circle  of  our  sense  experience,  and  at  the  same  time, 
the  material  which  conditions  all  the  higher  activities 
of  the  soul."  * 

The  several  senses  make  their  respective  and  fairly 
distinct  but  intermingled  contributions  to  experience; 
some  bringing  relatively  little,  others  much;  some,  that 
of  a  high  intellectual  order,  others  low;  but  each  ac- 
cording to  its  constitution.  To  the  traditional  "  five 
senses  "  modern  science  has,  by  pretty  general  consent, 
added  as  a  sixth  the  muscular  sense ;  sometimes,  also,  a 
seventh,  the  vital  sense.  Arranged  in  order,  they  may 
be  named  the  vital  sense,  smell,  taste;  muscular  sense, 
touch,  hearing,  sight.  The  first  gives  sensations  from 
which  come  perceptions  of  organic  life;  such  are  hunger, 
thirst,  repletion,  respiration,  etc.  The  intellectual 
character  of  these  sensations  is  unimportant.  Taste 
and  smell  are  known  as  the  chemical  senses,  and  are 
concerned  with  nourishing  and  breathing,  through  spe- 
cial organs.  The  sensations  of  taste,  smell  and  tem- 
perature are  variable  and  correspondingly  untrust- 
worthy. They  are  regarded  as  "coarse  senses";  sight 
and  hearing  giving  the  finer  discriminations.  The 
former  are  of  little  importance  as  knowledge-giving 
senses;  scent,  odor,  perfume,  fragrance,  redolence, 

*  Lindner.     "Empirical  Psychology,"  p.  64.     Trans,  by  De  Garmo. 


The  Special  Senses  257 

aroma,  stench,  fetor  are  representative  terms  used  to 
describe  the  sensations  concerned  with  smell.  Halleck, 
however,  in  his  "  Education  of  the  Central  Nervous 
System"  (pp.  111-116),  quotes  freely  from  Shake- 
speare, Milton,  Gray,  and  Keats,  "  to  show  that,  no 
matter  what  commonplace  minds  may  think  to  the  con- 
trary, [these  authors]  thought  odor  images  worthy  to 
be  used  in  their  most  noble  and  beautiful  passages." 
From  the  sense  of  taste  come  sensations  of  flavor — as 
sweet,  sour,  bitter,  saline,  alkaline,  astringent. 

Tactual  and  muscular  sensations  are  primary  and 
universal.  Most  modern,  as  well  as  earlier,  psycholo- 
gists quote  Democritus  as  holding  that  all  of  the  more 
specialized  senses  are  modifications  of  this  one  of 
touch.*  The  sensations  of  touch  are  more  definite  than 
those  of  other  senses  just  described,  and  give  corre- 
spondingly more  and  more  reliable  knowledge.  Dr. 
Porter  says :  f  "  The  sense  of  touch  is  the  most  positive 
of  all  the  senses,  and,  in  many  respects,  is  worthy  to  be 
called  the  leading  sense."  From  this  sense  are  derived 
sensations  of  one's  own  body,  and  its  parts  and  move- 
ments; other  bodies;  surfaces,  surface  characters — as 
rough  and  smooth,  hard  and  soft,  moist  and  dry ;  solids, 
their  parts  and  relations.  For  some  of  these,  and  for 
other  related  experiences,  touch  is  reinforced  by  the 
muscular  sense  and  by  sight  In  connection  with  sight, 
active  touch  becomes  the  experimental  sense,  using 
tools  and  apparatus  and  instruments — microscopes,  tel- 

*  See  "  Spencer's  Principles  of  Psychology,"  i,  pp.  304,  306. 
t  "  The  Human  Intellect,"  p.  151. 


258  Science  of  Education 

escopes,  balances,  measures,  etc.  Says  Dr.  Porter:* 
"  It  ought  not  to  surprise  us  to  learn  that  the  sense  of 
touch  furnishes  most  of  the  terms  for  the  intellectual 
arts  and  states.  Sight  itself  is  indebted  to  touch  for 
many  of  its  terms.  We  take  or  apprehend  a  meaning; 
we  hold  an  opinion;  we  comprehend  or  grasp  a  train  of 
thought  or  a  course  of  reasoning;  we  accept  a  propo- 
sition." As  a  knowledge-giving  sense,  the  chief  value 
of  touch  is  in  its  alliances  with  the  other  senses,  es- 
pecially the  muscular  sense  and  vision.  But  most 
others  must  depend  upon  it,  also,  for  assistance  or  con- 
firmation. Accompanying  all  exercise  of  active  touch 
are  the  muscular  sensations  also.  Hence  are  taken  sen- 
sations of  weight  and  pressure,  movement,  direction  and 
distance,  form,  size  (in  combination  with  touch  and 
sight),  resistance  and  strain,  etc. 

Sensations  in  hearing  readily  classify  themselves  as 
of  two  kinds:  tones  and  noises.  In  common  experi- 
ence the  two  are  often  fused.  Even  in  the  most  per- 
fect musical  instrument  few  tones  are  "  pure " ;  and 
in  the  so-called  "  noises "  there  may  often  be  dis- 
tinguished accented  or  modulated  sounds  that  have  the 
character  of  tones.  This  is  particularly  true  of  articu- 
late sounds,  the  ocean's  roar,  the  massed  noise  of  a  great 
city,  the  clatter  of  a  train,  the  wind  through  a  forest, 
the  noise  of  running  water,  the  rumble  of  a  factory. 
Unlike  vision,  which  is  a  qualitatively  simple  sense, 
hearing  is  an  "  analyzing  "  sense.  This  appears  in  its 
immediate  recognition  of  the  time  element,  because 

*  "  The  Human  Intellect,"  p.  162. 


The  Special  Senses  259 

of  which  it  busies  itself  with  occurrences — motion, 
change,  life,  etc. 

Unlike  all  of  the  other  senses,  also — even  sight — 
hearing  reveals  a  well-developed  scale  of  sensation. 
The  scale  of  colors  for  the  eye  is  in  no  sense  either 
so  regular  or  so  well  integrated  as  is  the  musical 
scale.  This  latter  is  described  technically  as  a  "  con- 
tinuum " ;  it  is  unitary,  complete,  integral.  Upon  these 
discriminations  musical  systems  rest;  and  from  their 
combinations  come  tunes,  melodies,  harmonies,  con- 
cords, choruses,  etc.  Articulateness  in  language,  mod- 
ulations, accent,  movement,  emphasis,  inflections  and 
much  of  the  attractiveness  of  oratory,  not  less  than 
song,  arise  from  the  fine  discriminations  of  this  sense. 

"  Of  all  the  senses,  hearing  is  said  to  be  the  richest 
in  the  variety  of  sensations  it  furnishes.  The  ear  can 
discriminate  far  more  accurately  than  the  human  voice 
can  execute."  Hearing  gives  little  knowledge  of  space 
— either  direction  or  location.  But  "  the  delicate  and 
far-reaching  discrimination  of  quality,  aided  by  the 
fine  discrimination  of  duration,  enables  the  ear  to  ac- 
quire a  good  deal  of  exact  information,  as  well  as  to 
gain  a  considerable  amount  of  refined  pleasure.  The 
delight  of  music  sums  up  the  chief  part  of  the  latter."  * 
However,  the  auditory  images  employed  in  the  great 
literatures,  in  story  and  in  common  speech,  cannot 
rightly  be  ignored,  as  adding  to  the  attractions  and 
pleasures  and  comforts  of  language  masterpieces  among 
the  fine  arts.  Of  the  more  exact  information,  hearing 
*  Sully.  "  The  Human  Mind,"  ii,  p.  113. 


260  Science  of  Education 

is  responsible  for  large  contributions  through  speech, 
direct  instruction,  lectures,  sermons,  home  and  social 
intercourse,  etc.  Among  sensory  images  in  the  mind, 
those  of  the  auditory  type  seem  to  be  far  less  common 
than  of  the  visual.  Galton,  in  his  "  Inquiries  into 
Human  Faculty,"  *  discusses  images,  mental  imagery 
and  visionaries,  through  two  chapters,  without  mention 
of  auditory  images,  except,  perhaps,  where  he  digresses 
to  characterize  the  "  daimon  of  Socrates  as  an  audible, 
not  a  visual  appearance."  Of  the  auditory  type  are 
those  writers  who,  in  their  composing,  have  hearers, 
not  readers,  in  mind ;  musicians  who  play  "  by  ear  " 
rather  than  by  note;  most  readers,  effective  preachers 
and  jury  lawyers;  teachers,  as  teachers,  who  have  the 
recitation  in  mind.  The  auditive  pupil  studying,  com- 
ing to  a  difficulty  in  his  book  lesson,  is  likely  to  go 
through  the  motions  of  reading  it  aloud.  But  few  of 
these  impulses  carry  images  with  them.  In  the  born 
orator  and  musician  they  are  most  likely  to  do  so. 

Learning  by  hearing  is  primitive  and  generic;  rela- 
tively far  more  prominent  in  the  early  experience  of  the 
race  than  now.  "  For  untold  barbaric  ages  man  had  ob- 
tained, through  the  medium  of  the  ear,  almost  all  the 
knowledge  that  came  to  him  second-hand.  The  news- 
paper and  the  book  did  not  exist  for  him  to  interpret 
their  meaning  by  the  eye."  f  And  even  to-day  among 
visualists  the  eye-born  images  are  often  given  vivid- 
ness through  the  influence  of  hearing. 

*  Pages  83-114  and  155-177. 

f  Halleck.    "  The  Education  of  the  Central  Nerrous  System,"  p.  62. 


The  Special  Senses  261 

Of  all  the  senses,  the  sensations  of  sight  are  given 
first  place  in  respect  to  refinement  and  definiteness. 
"  The  eye  has  always  ranked/'  says  Dr.  Porter,*  "  as 
the  noblest  of  the  senses  " :  its  superiority  being  due  in 
part  to  "  the  unobtrusive  delicacy  of  its  sensations." 
However,  at  its  best  even,  the  eye,  for  the  discrimina- 
tion of  many  qualities  and  especially  as  concerns  the 
conception  of  space  relations,  "  needs  the  tutorship  of 
the  touch."  No  other  sense  is  responsible  for  so  many 
acquired  perceptions.  It  shares  its  insights  with  every 
other  sense  and  appropriates  theirs  in  return.  More  or 
less  directly,  we  depend  upon  this  sense  for  our  appre- 
hension of  light  in  general,  the  scale  of  colors  and  their 
innumerable  modifications ;  of  lustre  and  dulness,  light 
and  shade,  perspective;  visible  movement,  form,  appar- 
ent size,  direction  and  extension.  It  sustains  particu- 
larly close  relations  with  the  sense  of  touch,  "  first 
learning  from  the  hand  what  the  hand  has  to  teach, 
then  guiding  it."  In  all  forms  of  art,  whether  fine  or 
industrial  art,  it  is  rich  in  dictation  for  the  hand's  exe- 
cution. It  is  resourceful  and  interpretative.  "  Very- 
early,"  says  Ladd,f  "  in  the  development  of  a  normal  ex- 
perience, the  eye  comes  to  be  the  leader  and  critic  of 
the  discriminations  connected  with  the  muscular  and 
tactual  sensations."  It  is  the  sense  of  breadth  and  cath- 
olicity. "  The  noblest  part  in  the  disclosure  of  the  ex- 
ternal world,"  says  Lindner,^:  "  belongs  indisputably  to 
the  sense  of  sight,  which  gives  rise  to  nine-tenths  of  all 

•Porter.     "The  Human  Intellect,"  p.  158. 

fLadd.     "  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  pp.417.  418 

J  "Empirical  Psychology  "  (trans.),  p.  62. 


262  Science  of  Education 

sense-perceptions.  Its  impressions  are  so  distinguished 
above  the  others  in  clearness  and  distinctness  that  lan- 
guage borrows  its  figures  for  the  perfection  of  knowl- 
edge from  this  sense  (idea,  insight,  evidence,  intuition), 
and  the  perceptions  arising  from  other  senses  must,  for 
the  sake  of  scientific  comparison,  be  reduced  to  optical 
perceptions;  as,  for  example,  temperatures,  to  the  length 
of  a  tube  of  quicksilver;  difference  in  weight,  to  the 
graduation  on  the  arm  of  the  scales,  etc."  Better  than 
most  of  the  other  senses,  also,  the  eye  is  able  to  control 
its  impressions.  Not  only  what  we  know  and  what 
may  be  known,  but  what  we  wish  to  know  has  a  de- 
cisive influence  often  on  what  we  see.  The  sense  is 
selective  and  assimilative. 

The  images  that  most  enrich  the  mind  are  of  the 
visual  type.  This  has  already  been  implied  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph.  Francis  Galton,  about  twenty  years 
ago,  undertook  in  an  original  way  to  study  mental 
imagery,  chiefly  of  the  visual  type,  and  published  his 
conclusions,*  with  important  inquiries,  as  has  been 
mentioned  on  a  former  page.  Among  his  conclusions 
are  the  following:  that  men  of  science,  as  a  class,  have 
feeble  powers  of  visual  representation;  that  the  highest 
minds  are  probably  those  in  which  the  power  is  not  lost, 
but  subordinated,  and  is  ready  for  use  on  suitable  occa- 
sions; that,  through  other  modes  of  conception,  chiefly 
connected  with  an  incipient  motor  sense,  men  who  de- 
clare themselves  entirely  deficient  in  the  power  of  seeing 
mental  pictures  may,  nevertheless,  give  life-like  de- 

*  "  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,"  pp.  83-177. 


The  Special  Senses  263 

scriptions  of  what  they  have  seen,  and  otherwise  express 
themselves  as  if  they  were  gifted  with  a  vivid  imagina- 
tion; that  the  power  of  visualizing  is  higher  in  women 
than  men,  and  in  boys  than  in  adults ;  that  language  and 
book  learning  tend  to  dull  the  power;  and  that  it  is  prob- 
ably a  natural  gift.  In  practical  ways  it  manifests 
itself  in  the  dramatic  sense ;  in  the  easy  mastery  of  cere- 
monials and  manoauvres;  in  the  skill  of  the  artist,  the 
expert  story-teller,  the  inventive  mechanic,  and  in  the 
pioneer  in  ideas  generally.  Without  doubt  one's  vis- 
ualizing power,  for  one  order  of  images  or  another,  may 
be  measurably  improved,  and  much  to  the  advantage 
of  the  individual  and  for  his  enjoyment. 

From  the  several  characterizations  of  the  senses  and 
their  products  in  experience,  certain  observations  natu- 
rally follow  as  bearing,  more  or  less  directly,  upon  edu- 
cational doctrine  or  practice,  or  both. 

The  nature  of  education  requires  that  each  of  the 
special  senses,  not  less  than  other  functions,  be  culti- 
vated in  proportion  to  its  uses  in  mental  development 
The  want  of  a  single  sense,  as  of  one  born  blind  or  deaf, 
means  a  loss  of  experience  of  one  whole  order  of  ideas. 
In  the  same  way  and  to  a  corresponding  degree,  any 
one  of  the  senses  left  uncultivated,  or  comparatively  so, 
imposes  a  limit,  an  artificial  and  unnecessary  limit  to 
subsequent  knowledge  and  interests — not  of  the  order 
of  that  sense  only,  but  of  related  senses  that  are  weaker 
because  of  its  weak  support.  And  if  the  sense  neg- 
lected be  sight  or  hearing  or  touch — senses  which  nat- 
urally contribute  so  much  to  personal  experience — the 


264  Science  of  Education 

injury  is  all  the  greater.  It  needs  no  argument  to  show 
that  in  most  schooling  the  last  of  these  is  practically 
ignored,  and  too  often  the  second.  Fortunately,  the 
pupil  in  his  play  and  neighborhood  foraging  often  takes 
the  matter  into  his  own  hands  and  works  out  a  motor 
and  tactile  training  for  himself.  So  important  is  ex- 
perience to  the  growing  person  that  no  avenue  to  the 
mind  should  be  even  partially  obstructed.  Every  day, 
and  frequently,  short,  sharp,  attentive,  discriminative 
exercise  of  each  sense  upon  interesting,  important 
matter  would  accomplish  much.  The  several  senses, 
not  less  than  judgment  and  thinking,  are  entitled  to 
share  in  the  discipline  of  the  school.  The  result  would 
be  a  fund  of  sensuous  richness  and  beauty,  and  the  tools 
of  a  higher  efficiency  for  subsequent  years.  This  finer 
sense  power  is  a  mark  of  developed  races  and  individ- 
uals. It  means  clearer  pictures  of  the  imagination, 
more  resourceful  thinking,  and  cogent  reasoning.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  "  while,"  as  Professor  James 
puts  it,  "  part  of  what  we  perceive  comes  through  our 
senses  from  the  object  before  us,  another  part  always 
conies  out  of  our  own  head."  The  reactions  of  the  mind 
are  measured  by  the  kind  and  amount  of  material  fur- 
nished by  the  senses.  Whatever  trains  them  enriches 
the  mind  in  the  higher  functions. 

The  real  nurture  of  the  several  senses  is  wholesome 
in  all  its  mental  reactions.  Herbert  Spencer  pointed 
out  *  very  clearly  that  "  the  progress  of  life  and  in- 
telligence is,  under  one  of  its  aspects,  an  extension  of 

*  Spencer.    "  Principles  of  Psychology,"  i,  p.  318. 


The  Special  Senses  265 

the  space  through  which  the  correspondence  between 
the  organism  and  its  environment  reaches,  and  that 
successive  stages  in  the  development  of  each  sense  im- 
ply successive  enlargements  of  this  sphere  of  space. 
Rationality  assists  in  carrying  this  enlargement  still 
farther."  A  like  meaning  may  be  found  in  Dr.  Har- 
ris's statement  that,  viewed  in  one  way,  "  education 
looks  to  making  for  the  individual  every  there  a  here, 
and  every  then  a  now."  Education  of  the  sort  men- 
tioned means  an  extension  of  the  horizon  of  one's  avail- 
able natural  and  human  environment. 

Then  there  is  the  most  urgent  necessity  for  more 
careful  and  systematic  and  far-seeing  motor  training. 
As  it  begins  in  movement,  so  sensation  tends  to  pass  into 
movement,  and  "  the  foundation  for  motor  develop- 
ment lies  in  sensory  training." 

Once  more,  mental  activity  becomes  more  difficult 
as  it  departs  from  the  activity  of  the  senses.  This  de- 
termines instruction  to  begin  with:  things  before 
names;  the  individual  before  the  general;  the  local  be- 
fore the  distant;  the  recent  before  the  old;  the  common 
before  the  strange;  and  the  vernacular  before  a  foreign 
language.  It  means,  in  other  words  and  in  a  single 
phrase,  that  first  steps  are  to  be  with  what  lies  nearest 
to  the  child's  experience.  This  may  mean  interest  in 
the  life  of  the  "  Seven  Little  Sisters,"  or  of  the  girl 
across  the  street.  It  is  only  the  more  available  in  any 
case,  as  it  lies  nearest  the  child's  accumulated  sense 
experience. 


CHAPTER  XDC 
PSYCHOLOGY 

EDUCATIONAL  science  will  find  other  materials  in  a 
study  of  the  mind,  i.e.,  in  psychology.  It  is  not  the 
present  purpose,  nor  is  there  any  occasion  here,  to  pre- 
sent in  systematic  order  or  completeness  even  the  es- 
sentials of  psychology  as  a  science.  In  the  present  study 
these  are  taken  for  granted.  In  constructing  or  inter- 
preting a  science  of  education  there  is  presupposed  an 
acquaintance  with  important  phenomena  of  mind,  its 
states  and  activities,  and  the  processes  of  their  change, 
and  the  organization  of  them  into  a  science;  and,  in 
particular,  those  phenomena  that  have  to  do  with  the 
growth  of  mind  and  the  conditions  of  its  maturing.  It 
is  the  study  of  mind  so  considered  to  which  the  science 
of  education  is  indebted  for  the  group  of  principles  now 
undertaken. 

(1)  Of  primary  importance  is  an  acquaintance  with 

mental  capacities.     Sir  William  Hamilton  *  limits  the 

term  capacity    to  the  mere  passive    affections  of  the 

mind.    He  says,  "  Its  primary  signification,    ...    as 

well  as  its  employment,  favors  this  usage."     Power  he 

uses  as  both  active  and  passive;  faculty  naming  the 

*  "  Metaphysics,"  p.  123. 

266 


Psychology  267 

active,  and  capacity  the  passive  form.  Certainly,  in 
both  the  older  and  more  recent  psychologies,  it  is  recog- 
nized that  along  with  a  capacity  for  receiving  and  ap- 
propriating experience,  there  goes  a  positive  power  of 
reacting — aggressive,  forceful,  conditioning.  As  Pro- 
fessor Ladd  *  phrases  it :  "  In  spite  of  objections  from 
the  physiological  point  of  view,  the  popular  assumption 
[of  a  real,  non-material,  permanent  being,  a  unity  in 
some  unique  sense],  when  freed  from  its  crudities,  and 
interpreted  intelligently,  may  be  shown  to  be  the  only 
one  compatible  with  the  facts  of  observation."  Even 
Herbert  Spencer,f  who  defines  mind  "  as  known  to  the 
possessor  of  it,  as  a  circumscribed  aggregate  of  activi- 
ties," says :  "  The  cohesion  of  these  activities,  one  with 
another,  throughout  the  aggregate,  compels  the  postu- 
lation  of  something  of  which  they  are  the  activities." 
From  whatever  point  of  view,  mind  must  be  thought  of 
as  a  power,  fitted  to  receive  and  appropriate  experiences, 
and  an  active,  affirmative  energy,  selective  and  effort- 
making.  These  two  characteristics  have  already  been 
assumed  in  speaking  of  the  mutual  interactions  of  mind 
and  environment,  and  need  not  be  further  elaborated 
here.  A  recognition  of  both,  however,  is  fundamental 
in  describing  or  interpreting  the  process  known  as  edu- 
cation. 

In  this  mind,  there  are  no  inborn  original  possessions. 
The  qualities  of  mind  are  inherited;  power  as  capacity 
and  energy;  tendencies  to  feel,  to  know,  and  to  do; 

*  Ladd.     "  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  p.  597. 
f  Spencer.     "  Principles  of  Psychology,"  i,  p.  159. 


268  Science  of  Education 

tendencies  to  discriminate,  reflect  and  imagine;  tenden- 
cies to  connect  events  causally ;  tendencies  to  co-ordinate 
the  senses;  capacity  for  mental  development.  But  all 
of  these  are  rather  characteristic  of  the  mind  of  the 
species  than  of  the  individual.  "  In  animals,"  says  Pro- 
fessor James,*  "  fixed  habit  is  the  essential  and  charac- 
teristic law  of  nervous  action.  The  brain  grows  to  the 
exact  modes  in  which  it  has  been  exercised,  and  the 
inheritance  of  these  modes  we  call  instincts.  But  in 
man  the  negation  of  fixed  modes  is  the  essential  char- 
acteristic. He  owes  his  whole  pre-eminence  as  a  rea- 
soner,  his  whole  human  quality  of  intellect,  we  may 
say,  to  the  facility  with  which  a  given  mode  of  thought 
in  him  may  suddenly  be  broken  up  into  elements  which 
recombine  anew.  Only  at  the  price  of  inheriting  no 
instinctive  tendencies  is  he  able  to  settle  every  novel 
case  by  the  fresh  discovery  by  his  reason  of  novel  prin- 
ciples. He  is,  par  excellence,  the  educable  animal." 

Heredity,  in  other  words,  is  seen  in  possibilities,  not 
in  transmitted  biases ;  in  general,  not  specific  character- 
istics. Indeed,  inherited  tendency  is,  not  infrequently, 
capable  of  direction  into  either  desirable  or  undesirable 
development,  according  as  incidental  environment  or 
positive  tuition  favors  the  one  or  the  other.  "  Inheri- 
tance has  a  great  number  of  possibilities,  and  the  realiza- 
tion of  any  one  of  them  may  be  caused  or  blocked  by 
very  slight  accidental  occurrences."  "  A  man's  germ 
inheritance,"  it  has  been  said,  "  is  his  capital,  his  stock 
in  trade.  He  may  foster  or  spoil  it  by  good  ante-birth 

*  "  Psychology,"  ii,  pp.  367,  368. 


Psychology  269 

acquisitions;  his  nurture  may  increase  or  waste  it.  But 
without  it  he  couldn't  do  business  at  all,  and  its  nurt- 
ure must  decide  what  sort  of  business  he  will  do."  In- 
herited aptitude  is  for  class,  not  individual  effects;  in 
the  genius  sometimes,  for  large  particular  powers.  The 
inheritances  that  are  actively  specific  are  chiefly  struct- 
ural or  functional  on  the  organic  side.  And  these,  to- 
gether with  the  transmitted  mental  capacity  and  energy, 
are  far  more  fixed  and  persistent  than  acquired  tenden- 
cies or  the  impulse  of  education.  Mr.  Galton  asserts:  * 
"  There  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  nature 
[inheritance]  prevails  enormously  over  nurture  [edu- 
cation] when  the  differences  of  nurture  do  not  exceed 
what  is  commonly  found  among  persons  of  the  same 
rank  of  society  in  the  same  country."  But  elsewhere  in 
the  same  study  this  author  adds  that  "  those  teachings 
that  conform  to  the  natural  aptitudes  of  the  child  leave 
much  more  enduring  marks  than  others."  Individu- 
ality lies  along  the  way  of  developing  these  predisposi- 
tions; and  if  individuality,  then  efficiency. 

Whether  acquired  characteristics  in  the  parents  are 
transmissible  to  their  offspring  is  an  open  scientific  ques- 
tion. The  modern  discussion  dates  practically  from  the 
reading  of  a  paper  by  Professor  Weismann  f  in  1881 
before  a  German  scientific  society.  This  was  followed 
by  seven  other  addresses  or  monographs  subsequently 
published  in  a  volume  in  1889,  and  by  four  more 
issued  as  Vol.  II,  two  years  afterward,  all  upon  kindred 

*  "  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,"  p.  241. 

f  August  Weismann.     "  The  Duration  of  Life." 


270  Science  of  Education 

phases  of  the  same  topic.  They  have  stimulated  among 
scientists  and  educators  discussion  of  the  possibility  of 
inheriting  acquired  traits.  Current  opinion  is  yet  con- 
siderably divided  upon  the  question.  The  pedagogical 
implications  are  important.  For  so  long  we  have  been 
content  to  believe  that  by  persistent,  far-seeing  and,  if 
need  be,  compulsory  schooling,  each  generation  might 
be  assured  a  beginning  well  in  advance  of  that  of  its 
predecessor,  that  it  seems  little  short  of  iconoclastic  to 
say  or  to  think  that  the  reverse  of  this  is  probably  the 
truth,  and  that  no  acquired  traits  are  transmitted.  Mr. 
Sully  holds  to  the  traditional  belief;  Professor  James 
against  it,  and  with  Weismann  and  Darwin.  Herbert 
Spencer  and  Mr.  Sully  and  some  others  are  Lamarckian 
in  arguing  for  the  persistence — the  possible  persistence 
of  acquired  characteristics. 

If  the  latter  view  be  the  correct  one,  then  directed 
education  must  seek  to  adapt  tuition  to  the  individual 
native  aptitude  in  such  way  as  to  utilize  the  projective 
force  of  heredity  to  conserve  the  new  influence :  if  the 
Weismann  theory  be  established,  that  accidental  varia- 
tion and  organic  adaptation  to  environment  through 
natural  selection  are  the  only  means  of  furthering  de- 
velopment, then  it  only  remains  (1)  to  begin  the  edu- 
cation of  the  children  through  wholesome  nutrition  and 
living,  and  (2)  to  surround  life  by  such  environment 
as  will  make  the  selection  of  desirable  characteristics 
by  the  organism  easy  or  certain.  In  either  case  the 
right  early  beginning  of  formal,  purposeful  education 
becomes  important. 


Psychology  271 

In  mind  we  have  to  do  with  the  primary  fact  of  con- 
sciousness, and  consciousness  in  three  forms — not  so 
much  sensibility,  intellect,  and  will,  as  of  feeling,  know- 
ing or  thinking,  and  willing  or  choosing;  not  so  much 
the  function  as  the  functioning.  As  the  scientist  does 
not  ask  what  electricity  is,  but  what  it  does;  so  the 
psychologists,  and  especially  the  educator  and  teacher, 
will  ask  of  such  faculties,  What  do  they  do  ?  How  does 
action  proceed,  and  under  what  conditions?  What  is 
knowing  or  remembering  or  hating  or  the  act  of  dis- 
crimination or  judgment  or  sympathy  or  artistic  appre- 
ciation? Knowing  appears  to  be  the  simple  act  of  con- 
sciousness; feeling,  knowing  that  involves  some  self- 
interest;  willing,  knowing  or  choosing  with  a  purpose. 
Knowledge  is  the  universal  element;  feeling,  the  indi- 
vidual element;  the  act  of  willing,  the  relating  of  the 
two  in  an  expression  of  purposed  activity.*  The  mind 
does  not  act  independently  in  either  of  these  relations. 
Indeed,  the  reactions  among  them  are  interminably 
complex.  In  the  activities  of  each  order,  both  of  the 
others  are  present  in  one  degree  or  another.  Seeing 
is  reinforced  by  thinking;  memory,  by  sound  pur- 
poses; the  understanding,  by  clear  perceptions;  the 
will,  by  good  judgment.  The  mind  functions  as  a 
whole;  unequally,  but  in  co-operation  of  part  and 
part. 

One  phase  of  this  integrity  of  mental  act  is  character- 
ized by  Professor  James  when  he  says :  f  "  Conscious- 

*  See  Dewey.     "  Psychology,  "p.  4. 
f"  Psychology,"  i,  p.  239. 


272  Science  of  Education 

ness  does  not  appear  to  itself  chopped  up  in  bits.  Such 
words  as  '  chain  '  or  '  train  '  do  not  describe  it  fitly,  as  it 
presents  itself  in  the  first  instance.  It  is  nothing  joint- 
ed ;  it  flows."  He  calls  it  throughout  one  very  interest- 
ing chapter  "  the  stream  of  thought."  Dr.  Porter  makes 
the  same  fact  clear  from  his  point  of  view :  "  The  whole 
soul,  so  far  as  we  are  conscious  of  its  operations,  acts 
in  each  of  its  functions.  The  identical  and  undivided 
ego  is  present,  and  wholly  present,  in  every  one  of  its 
conscious  acts  and  states.  In  every  act  all  functions 
conspire  to  make  each  in  its  exercise  clear.  At  least 
this  seems  to  be  the  natural  order,  and  it  is  the  real 
order  until  the  mind  has  been  perverted  by  being  com- 
pelled to  exercise  in  sections." 

Thinking,  feeling  and  controlling  are  three  aspects 
of  mental  activity;  now  one  is  dominant,  now  an- 
other. States  of  mind  vary  as  to  the  character  of 
the  prevailing  act.  It  may  be  chiefly  reflection,  with 
feeling  and  will,  perception  and  moral  considerations 
in  abeyance.  It  may  be  markedly  emotional,  show- 
ing little  of  either  discrimination  or  control;  or  it 
may  be  mainly  active  and  directive,  only  incidentally 
self-regarding;  unemotional  and  comparatively  un- 
thinking. "  Each  state  of  the  soul  is  more  conspicu- 
ously and  eminently  a  state  of  knowledge,  or  of  feel- 
ing, or  of  will,  one  of  these  elements  being  prevail- 
ing or  predominant."  The  distinction  holds,  not 
only  for  states  of  mind  of  the  same  individual,  but  for 
the  predominant  traits  of  different  individuals.  One  is 

*  Porter.     "  The  Human  Intellect,"  p.  43. 


Psychology  273 

managerial  and  executive,  interested  in  affairs  and 
achievements;  one,  in  ideas  and  ideals;  one,  prevail- 
ingly responsive  to  feeling  stimuli. 

States  of  mind  vary  also  as  to  their  different  de- 
grees of  complexity.  This  is  true  for  one's  states  of 
mind  for  any  measurable  period,  but  it  also  holds  true 
as  accounting  for  the  unlikeness  of  states  characteriz- 
ing different  periods  in  the  individual  life.  Childhood 
is  perceptive  and  receptive,  rather  than  reflective  and 
thoughtful;  impulsive,  not  controlled;  sensuous  in  ex- 
perience, not  ideal. 

Once  more,  the  facts  of  psychology  as  a  science  are 
practically  limited  to  the  field  of  consciousness.  Pro- 
fessor Ladd  *  defines  psychology  as  "  the  science  which 
has  for  its  primary  subject  of  investigation  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  human  consciousness  " ;  and  physiological 
psychology  as  having  to  do  with  "  the  phenomena  of 
consciousness  from  the  physiological  point  of  view." 
By  James  and  Sully  and  most  recent  writers  on  the 
subject  the  science  is  similarly  defined,  but  by  most  of 
them,  also,  the  meaning  or  content  of  the  term  con- 
sciousness is  greatly  extended ;  extended  to  include  "  all 
psychical  phenomena  lying  beyond  the  confines  of  clear 
consciousness  .  .  .  taken  as  raw  material  for  mind, 
and  .  .  .  susceptible  ...  of  being  brought  into 
the  texture  of  our  distinctly  conscious  life."  f  All  of 
which  implies  that  there  are  phenomena  that  may  be 
fairly  called  mental  that  are  little  more  than  the  adum- 

*  "  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology,"  pp.  8,  4. 
f  Sully.     "  The  Human  Mind,"  i,  p.  76. 


274  Science  of  Education 

brations  of  clearly  conscious  acts,  but  as  clearly  belong 
to  the  field  of  psychology. 

The  chief  significance  of  the  matter  in  the  present 
discussion  is  that  whatever  the  scientists  may  conclude 
of  the  relation  of  these  facts,  to  the  teacher  this 
fringe  of  consciousness  is  an  imporant  factor  in  the 
child's  education  or  development.  "  There  is,"  writes 
Professor  Sully,  *  "  a  whole  aggregate  or  complex  of 
mental  phenomena,  sensations,  impressions,  thoughts, 
etc.,  most  of  which  are  obscure,  transitory  and  not 
distinguished.  With  this  wide  obscure  region  of  the 
subconscious,  there  stands  contrasted  the  narrow  lumi- 
nous region  of  the  clearly  conscious."  Here  are 
"  physical  elements  which  enter  into  and  color  the 
conscious  state  of  the  time,  but  which  are  not  dis- 
criminated or  distinguished."  One  author  speaks  of 
"  organic  reverberations  "  underlying  such  emotions  as 
grief,  love,  etc. ;  of  "  signs  of  direction  "  in  thinking ; 
of  "  psychic  overtones  "  and  "  fringes  "  of  feeling  and 
"  tediously  haunting  "  conditions  of  mind,  which  have 
similar  meanings.  Some  of  these  are  organic  effects, 
some  are  smouldering  feelings,  others  vague  wants, 
anon  the  undiscerned  but  insinuating  and  urgent  push 
of  one's  former  experiences.  To  divert  this  mental  en- 
ergy to  right  ends,  and  to  hold  it  in  wholesome  ways  of 
acting  and  at  the  ready  call  of  conscious  purpose,  is  a 
large  part  of  child  training.  Example  is  better  than 
precept  because  the  child,  without  conscious  effort  and 
without  protest,  falls  into  the  way  of  behaving  as  the 
*  "  Outlines  of  Psychology,"  p.  74. 


Psychology  275 

exemplar  behaves.  All  automatic  doing  and  reflex 
activities  are  of  this  class  of  semiconscious  or  subcon- 
scious acts.  The  groping  of  the  mind  in  memory  for 
what  it  only  vaguely  recalls  is  an  example  of  the  same. 

In  the  teaching  of  the  schools,  as  well  as  in  the 
learning  of  life,  there  are  two  orders  of  change,  each 
complementary  to  the  other,  each  the  opposite  of  the 
other,  and  both  of  interest  to  the  teacher.  In  the  one 
there  is  a  transforming  of  conscious  processes  into  un- 
conscious ones ;  the  other,  the  reverse — the  resolving  of 
unconscious  processes  into  conscious  ones.  Walking, 
reading,  talking,  singing,  seeing,  writing  and  similar 
forms  of  skill  and  behavior  that,  in  the  beginning,  were 
intensely  conscious  acts,  must,  for  the  highest  personal 
effectiveness,  become  automatic  or  chiefly  so.  In  read- 
ing, consciousness  of  the  word-sign  must  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum ;  so  of  the  balance  of  the  body  in  walking, 
the  co-ordination  of  the  organs  of  speech  in  talking  and 
singing,  the  adjustments  of  the  eye  in  seeing,  etc.  It 
is  fortunate  that  so  much  of  the  mind's  work  may  be 
safely  left  to  the  automatism  of  habit  and  the  sensory 
motor  and  other  reflexes. 

On  the  other  hand,  directed  education  has  for  one  of 
its  purposes  to  bring  more  and  more  of  the  mind's  expe- 
riences within  reach  of  conscious  purposeful  critical 
judgment  that,  upon  occasion  the  mind  may  be  able  to 
converge  upon  its  interest  all  the  fund  of  its  past  in- 
sights and  acquisitions.  For  effective  living  and  acting 
the  grip  of  the  hour  must  be  upon  one's  accumulation  of 
years.  The  unconscious  must  be  transformable  at  need 


276  Science  of  Education 

into  the  conscious.  But  there  is  need  of  a  store  of  re- 
flexes. Of  all  that  has  been  learned  by  any  one  of  us, 
the  most  is  soon  forgotten.  Of  what  remains,  the  largest 
part,  if  it  be  thoroughly  known  as  one  knows  his  name, 
or  his  house  number,  or  the  qualities  of  matter,  or  hu- 
man nature,  is  held  reflexively  and  used  automatically. 
This  is  a  great  convenience,  to  say  the  least,  that  so 
much  of  the  store  of  one's  past  experience  can  be  disre- 
garded with  the  confident  assurance,  however,  that  it 
will  keep  on  at  its  proper  work  when  needed.  As  a 
garrulous  person  is  sometimes  said  "  to  set  his  mouth 
going  and  go  off  and  leave  it,"  so  in  a  high  and  very 
real  sense  there  are  many  things  which  the  well-trained 
mind  may  be  set  to  doing,  and  the  self  go  about  its  busi- 
ness with  newer  and  possibly  more  difficult  tasks.  It  is 
a  thrifty  providence  of  the  organism  for  doubling  its 
force. 

Another  characteristic  of  mind  and  one  that  espe- 
cially concerns  the  teacher  is  its  tendency  toward  peri- 
odicities. The  more  important  of  such  are  incident  (1) 
to  one's  environment,  and  (2)  the  conditions  of  life  de- 
velopment. Of  the  former  there  are  those  consequent 
upon  personal  and  social  habits,  fatigue  and  relaxation, 
the  succession  of  day  and  night,  meals,  the  seasons,  and 
the  fixed  programme  of  every  kind.  The  latter  repre- 
sent stages  of  development.  Both  are  conditioning  of 
activities  that  may  and  may  not  be  required  or  at- 
tempted. Thought  is  in  constant  change,  and  mental 
(nervous)  energy  is  a  continuum  of  unequal  or  incon- 
stant flow.  Each  has  its  periods  of  rise  and  fall.  Maxi- 


Psychology  277 

ma  and  minima  follow  each  other,  though  not  in  the  na- 
ture of  an  exact  repetend.  One  high  pressure  may  be 
higher  than  another,  as  one  low  pressure  may  be  lower. 
But  the  aggregate  life  is  rhythmic,  and,  while  "  the 
stream  of  thought "  flows  unceasingly,  it  flows  with  a 
more  or  less  regular  recurrent  energy.  There  are  times 
of  greater  and  of  less  alertness.  As  these,  for  any  reason, 
recur  with  something  of  regularity  and  assurance,  they 
constitute  mental  periods. 

Moodiness  and  alternating  periods  of  melancholy 
and  subsequent  exaltation  have  the  character  of  broken 
periods.  The  mind,  by  being  called  upon  at  regu- 
larly recurring  times  for  the  same  sort  of  response, 
quickly  adjusts  itself  to  expect  it,  showing  a  tend- 
ency to  repetend  doing.  The  alternation  of  day  and 
night  furthers  this  tendency.  The  morning  hours 
are  for  most  persons  the  most  fruitful  mentally; 
the  mind  is  fresher,  the  will  is  saner,  the  feelings  are 
less  taxed,  the  thinking  is  more  energetic,  the  interests 
are  more  persistent,  obedience  to  rule  is  easier.  All 
this  is,  perhaps,  in  part — in  large  part — because  the 
organism  is  more  vigorous  from  the  night's  respite.  On 
the  other  hand,  habit  or  other  personal  reasons  may  re- 
serve the  evenings  or  the  afternoon  for  the  several 
tasks  and  the  mind  adjust  itself  to  this  routine.  It 
more  readily  performs  its  tasks  in  some  fairly  regulated, 
recurring  order,  whether  self-imposed  or  artificial.  In 
a  way,  the  hours  remember  their  tasks.  For  this  rea- 
son, broken  programmes  in  elementary  schools  are  gen- 
erally to  be  condemned.  Sleep,  the  meals  and  vigorous 


278  Science  of  Education 

physical  exercise  constitute  diversion  of  the  working 
forces  that  are  important.  Before  fatigue  has  been 
reached  the  activity  should  be  changed.  For  every  in- 
dividual this  alternation  of  exercise  and  rest  is  more 
or  less  constant,  varying  somewhat  also  with  age — the 
period  lengthening  from  childhood  to  youth.  It  is  a 
determining  factor  in  the  making  and  administering 
of  school  programmes. 

Another  periodicity  of  the  life  is  expressed  in  what 
are  generally  known  as  stages  of  development.  These 
are  variously  distributed  through  the  years,  named  in 
sundry  ways  and  each  given  a  more  or  less  arbitrary 
prominence  by  different  writers,  according  to  the  point 
of  view.  But  the  fact  that  such  stages  exist  is  almost 
universally  conceded,  in  theory  at  least,  however  much 
the  teaching  or  home  practice  may  disregard  them.  In- 
fancy, childhood,  youth,  adolescence  and  manhood  are 
terms  that  have  the  sanction  of  both  common  and  tech- 
nical use.  Lange  distinguishes  between  early  and  later 
childhood,  the  two  periods  covering  the  first  ten  years  of 
life.  With  MacVicar,  childhood  begins  at  six  or  seven, 
all  before  that  time  being  accorded  to  infancy.  Laurie 
offers  a  very  similar  classification.  Of  seven  classifica- 
tions known  to  the  writer,  all  agree  in  ending  one  period 
and  beginning  another  between  the  fourteenth  and  six- 
teenth years.  The  adjacent  periods  are  differently 
named,  but  are  both  described  in  reasonably  uniform 
terms.  It  is  noticeable  that  five  of  the  seven  begin 
their  classifications  with  the  child's  first  years,  the  other 
two  confine  their  characterizations  to  the  school  period. 


Psychology  279 

Five  of  the  seven,  also,  find  the  years  between  ten  and 
twelve  a  transition  time. 

But  far  more  important  than  this  effort  to  fix  the 
limits  of  the  several  periods  is  the  approximate  una- 
nimity as  to  the  essential  characteristics  of  life  as  they 
appear  during  the  intervening  years  and  at  times  of 
transition.  This  paragraph  is  given  to  a  summary  of 
the  more  important  of  these  traits  at  several  stages. 

For  all  of  the  earlier  years  of  childhood  before  school 
entrance,  and  for  two  or  three  years  thereafter,  the  in- 
tellectual life  is  very  directly  dependent  upon  the  senses; 
it  is  the  sense-perception  stage;  the  body  is  immature, 
but  growing;  by  the  age  of  eight  years  the  brain  has 
attained  approximately  to  five-sixths  its  full  size;  the 
natural  appetites  are  strong  and  controlling.  The  feel- 
ings are  transitory  and  capricious.  The  temper  is  plas- 
tic. Language  and  customs  are  learned  chiefly  by  imi- 
tation. Habits  are  easily  formed.  Nature,  environ- 
ment, is  the  great  teacher.  There  is  little  persistence, 
and  no  energy  for  long-continued  effort. 

Following  these  early  years  and  up  to  the  age  of 
twelve  or  fourteen — the  beginning  of  adolescence — con- 
siderable changes  take  place,  both  organic  and  spir- 
itual. Experience  is  still  chiefly  sensuous.  Perception 
is  reinforced  by  a  strengthening  memory.  Seeing  be- 
gins to  take  on  the  character  of  observing.  Present  in- 
terests dominate.  For  this  reason  the  activities  that  at- 
tract are  of  play  rather  than  work.  Satisfaction  is  found 
in  the  accompanying  feelings  rather  than  in  a  distant 
end  to  be  attained.  But  more  complex  sports  now  are  de- 


280  Science  of  Education 

manded  to  satisfy  the  growing  impulse  of  the  mind  to 
control  things.  Later  in  this  same  period  the  rougher 
games  attract.  Both  boys  and  girls  want  to  do  things. 
Girls  often  at  this  age  want  to  play  the  milder  games 
of  boys;  these,  in  their  turn,  acquire  an  interest  in 
the  sports  of  men.  The  senses  are  active,  the  passions 
strong  and  but  little  controlled.  Boys  engage  in  per- 
sonal combats;  girls  in  jealousies  and  cliques.  Both 
are  easily  aroused  to  anger.  They  are  increasingly  in- 
terested in  sensational  stories,  picturesque  adventures, 
incidents  of  travel  and  the  heroisms  of  physical  courage 
and  danger  and  exploits.  The  imagination,  so  forceful 
a  few  years  later,  is  still  sensuous  but  more  vivid.  It  is 
the  period  of  facile  and  tenacious  memory.  Facts  are 
easily  learned,  but  interests  are  chiefly  spontaneous, 
not  selected;  attention  is  neither  steady  nor  controlled. 
The  two  sexes  associate  indifferently ;  social  influences 
are  strong  and  decisive.  At  such  age  children  are 
thoroughly  democratic,  social  distinctions  count  for 
little,  companionship  becomes  a  necessity,  children 
crave  it. 

Almost  universally  it  is  agreed  that  danger  lies  in  a 
too  early  change  to  the  period  of  youth  which  follows. 
The  prolonging  of  this  period,  for  even  a  year  or  two, 
has  a  wholesome  influence  upon  the  adolescent  life, 
both  as  furnishing  richer  material  in  experience  and 
as  passing  on  a  stabler  physical  condition  of  organs  and 
their  functions. 

Professor   Lancaster,    of   Colorado   College,    says :  * 

*  "  Proceedings  of  the  N.  E.  A.,"  1899,  p.  1039. 


Psychology  281 

"  Adolescence  begins  when  the  primary  unthinking  life 
of  the  senses  of  the  child  opens  up  into  the  broad,  sec- 
ondary mental  life  of  meditation,  reflection  and  con- 
struction. .  .  .  Objects  and  events  are  seen  in  their 
intimate  relations  for  the  first  time.  .  .  .  Individu- 
ality is  felt  in  its  fulness.  Personality  enlarges."  Pri- 
marily, the  body  is  in  a  state  of  transition.  Great  phys- 
ical, organic  changes  are  taking  place.  The  nervous 
system  is  shifting  its  control,  not  suddenly,  but  gradu- 
ally and  surely.  Sense  products  are  less  regarded;  the 
imagination  is  active;  impulses  are  strong.  Reasoning, 
however,  is  growing,  though  conclusions  are  likely  to 
be  hasty,  and  doggedly  adhered  to.  The  youth  is  often 
sceptical  and  conceited;  obstinate  at  times,  even  to  dis- 
agreeable stubbornness.  He  resents  direct  interference 
with  his  conduct.  In  the  beginning,  mental  resource- 
fulness is  rather  on  the  side  of  the  feelings  than  of  the 
intelligence.  This  stage  has  been  called,  both  physio- 
logically and  psychologically,  a  period  of  second  birth. 
It  is  the  beginning  of  great  enthusiasms  and  ideals,  of 
unselfish  love,  and  strong  friendships.  What  was  first 
a  physical  growth  chiefly,  and  later  intellectual,  has 
come  to  be  an  expansion  of  the  soul  life.  There  is  an 
increased  and  marked  susceptibility  to  culture  and  de- 
velopment. 

While  the  normal  mind  is  still  receptive  and  re- 
active, it  has  in  a  marvellous  way  taken  on  cre- 
ative powers.  It  is  sensitive  to  ideals,  and  aspires  to 
reach  them  personally,  and  believes  that  it  can.  The 
days  are  given  to  hero-worship,  a  reverence  for  those 


282  Science  of  Education 

who  have  stood  for  something  great  or  good  or  beauti- 
ful, and  achieved  distinction  and  proved  themselves 
capable.  The  youth  now  plans  great  things,  is  optimis- 
tic and  ambitious.  In  the  presence  of  possibilities  he  is 
credulous  and  confident.  He  is  vulnerable  to  every  en- 
thusiastic appeal,  and  for  this  reason  is  open  to  mani- 
fold and  curious  temptations.  But,  for  the  same  rea- 
son, he  loves  athletics  and  honorable  rivalries,  and  dis- 
covers himself  in  his  contests.  In  much  the  same  way, 
also,  he  responds  to  aggressive  leadership  in  sports,  or 
education,  or  ideals  of  conduct.  Very  sensitive  to  ad- 
verse criticism  and  innuendoes,  he,  nevertheless,  submits 
readily  to  discipline  through  his  ideals.  It  has  been 
called  "  the  Elizabethan  Age  of  youth,"  *  and  is  full 
of  ambitious  plans  and  enthusiasms,  self-discoveries, 
many  uncertainties  and  abounding  hopefulness. 

*  Halleck.     "  Proceedings  of  the  N.  E.  A.,"  1902,  p.  731. 


CHAPTER  XX 
MENTAL  PROCESSES 

(2)  GIVEN  the  capacities  of  mind  and  generic  quali- 
ties, psychology  contributes  to  educational  science  a 
knowledge  of  mental  processes. 

It  has  been  already  noted  that  mind  is  essentially 
active.  All  growth  is  consequent  upon  this  activity, 
and,  soon  after  early  childhood,  purposed  activity. 
Throughout  life  this  remains  the  one  instrument  of  edu- 
cation. Teachers  are  primarily  interested  in  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mind,  the  way  in  which  and  the  conditions 
by  which  the  processes  go  on — in  thinking  rather  than 
thought;  in  feeling  rather  than  emotion;  in  knowing, 
and  remembering — not  in  knowledge  or  things  done  or 
remembered.  The  step  by  which  a  child  comes  to  his 
right  or  wrong  conclusions,  to  hate,  or  confidence,  or 
strong  purpose,  or  fine  ideals,  or  to  habits  of  industry, 
or  respect,  is  important.  As  persons  we  are  first  of  all 
interested  that  those  for  whom  we  have  hopes  shall  have 
right  thoughts  and  ideals,  sane  emotions,  accurate  mem- 
ories, and  skill  in  doing ;  shall  be  responsive  to  sympathy 
rather  than  hate  and  bitterness,  shall  be  industrious  and 
respectful.  But  as  teachers,  responsible  for  this  im- 
provement, as  directing  and  guiding  this  development, 

283 


284  Science  of  Education 

we  must  be  chiefly  and  immediately  concerned  in  the 
steps  and  conditions  of  their  correct  feeling  and  know- 
ing and  choosing  in  their  varied  aspects.  Hence  this 
paragraph. 

Among  the  more  general  characteristics  of  the  mental 
processes  the  following  are  given:  First,  they  are  lim- 
ited to  the  three  functions  named  and  their  several 
phases.  There  is  no  fourth,  and  no  classification  that 
omits  either  is  regarded  as  complete.  The  mind  appre- 
hends or  thinks;  it  feels,  in  the  sense  of  enjoying  or  suf- 
fering; it  purposes  and  makes  effort.  The  most  unde- 
veloped human  life,  after  it  has  once  become  conscious, 
does  so  much;  and  the  most  highly  cultivated  can 
do  no  more.  Between  the  two  extremes  the  difference 
is  one  of  degree,  not  of  kind.  Each  is  deserving  of  its 
share  of  instruction  or  guidance.  Life  is  but  partial, 
however  knowing,  if  it  be  not  also  moral ;  if  it  be  gener- 
ously furnished  with  learning,  while  devoid  of  a  pro- 
portioned sense  of  the  "ought"  involved;  or,  if  it  be 
supersensitive,  lacking  the  common  sense  to  properly 
value  deserts;  or,  if  it  be  headstrong,  with  lack  of  knowl- 
edge and  right  disposition. 

Mental  activity  is  most  effective  when  following  lines 
of  least  resistance.  This  requires  that  there  shall  be 
no  opposing  break  between  present  and  past  activities. 
What  has  been  done  exists  as  a  force,  giving  direction 
to  what  may  be  done.  Perceiving  makes  other  per- 
ceiving easier,  richer  in  the  same  line.  The  nerve  paths 
already  made  are  grooves  for  all  subsequent  doings  of 
like  kind.  Inference  is  made  more  certain  by  the  ac- 


Mental  Processes  285 

cumulation  of  a  store  of  accurate  observations  from 
which  to  draw  the  inference.  One  may  be  really  great 
upon  occasion,  by  virtue  of  having  lived  up  to  one's 
greatest  upon  all  occasions.  A  long-continued  practice 
of  clearly  imaging  one's  representative  experience 
makes  clear  imagery  easy.  To  have  embraced  coarse- 
ness and  sensual  interest  and  animal  appetites  for  a  time 
makes  coarse  and  sensual  and  brute  doing  a  very  natu- 
ral consequence.  The  line  of  past  acting  or  thinking 
or  feeling  is  a  line  of  least  resistance.  This  fact  has 
definite  bearings  upon  formal  education.  It  requires 
that,  of  a  given  series  of  experiences  for  the  early  years 
of  childhood,  that  shall  be  presented  first  which  is 
easiest,  psychologically  the  most  available;  and  that 
last  which  is  most  difficult.  This  is  not  the  logical  order, 
but  the  empirical  order.  The  logical  order  requires 
that  that  shall  come  first  upon  which  other  steps  de- 
pend, and  that  last  which  depends  upon  all  the  others. 
This  is  a  secondary  sequence,  and  belongs  to  the  higher 
stages  of  critical  learning. 

Kindred  to  this  characteristic  is  another  to  the 
effect  that  new  forms  of  mental  activity  are  difficult, 
and  difficult  in  proportion  to  their  strangeness.  The 
two  principles  lie  at  the  foundation  of  most  efforts 
to  grade  the  exercises  to  fit  the  growing  mind.  Mr. 
Palmer  has  pointed  out  *  that  "  the  line  of  least 
resistance  tends  toward  degradation,"  which  means 
in  terms  of  the  present  discussion  that  the  highest  men- 
tal work  is  to  be  accomplished  only  by  combining  the 

*  "  The  Science  of  Education,"  p.  163. 


286  Science  of  Education 

two  principles  of  activity  named  above,  and  holding  the 
child  responsible  for  essaying  the  more,  possibly  the 
most  difficult  tasks  for  which  his  experience  and  his  own 
purposes  have  equipped  him.  The  prescribed  exercises 
must  be  graded,  but  graded  up  to  his  best.  He  is  to  be 
held  responsible  for  the  longest  steps  he  is  able  to  take, 
and  still  give  him  sure  footing.  In  personal  effort  and 
for  educational  results,  it  is  the  last  half  inch  of  stretch 
that  counts,  provided  the  stretch  permits  of  vigorous 
recovery. 

A  principle  of  kindred  import  is  to  the  effect  that 
mental  processes  are  easiest  and  most  immediately  ef- 
fective, if  in  the  lines  of  closest  relations.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  "  close  relations  "  must  be  such 
as  appear  close,  or  are  made  to  appear  close,  to  the 
child  himself.  At  first  this  connection  is  the  artificial 
one  of  the  chance  personal  or  adventitious  interest,  or 
of  happening  at  the  same  time,  or  of  objects  that  appeal 
to  the  senses  in  the  same  way.  In  time,  the  relations 
of  cause  and  effect,  or  similarity  of  structure  or  func- 
tion, or  of  whole  and  part,  or  of  organism  and  organ, 
or  of  occurrence  and  accompanying  conditions,  appear 
— are  recognized  as  close.  Accompanying  the  recogni- 
tion that  there  may  be  other  close  relations,  and  relations 
that  are  vital,  the  search  for  them  is  of  the  nature  of 
the  real  scientific  spirit.  The  function  of  directed  edu- 
cation is  to  bring  the  pupil  to  a  realization  of  what 
relations  are  fundamentally  "  close,"  and  why  they  are 
such;  so  that  the  thought  activity  shall  freely  follow 
that  rather  than  the  more  accidental  and  interest- 


Mental  Processes  287 

emphasized  relations.  It  must  not  go  unobserved,  how- 
ever, that  such  activity,  as  it  involves  new  and  higher 
forms  of  discrimination  and  kinship,  is  relatively  more 
exhausting  of  energy  and  requires  frequent  alteration 
and  remission  of  activity. 

It  has  already  been  suggested  that  mind  works  most 
easily  in  regularly  recurring  periods.  This  needs  no 
elaboration  here,  and  is  noted  only  to  make  the  enumer- 
ation of  typical  characteristics  of  the  mental  process 
fairly  complete. 

In  all  operations  where  both  are  involved  violent 
feeling  and  knowing  are  antagonistic.  Usually  moder- 
ate feeling,  if  it  be  pleasurable,  is  an  aid  to  thinking. 
But  it  easily  becomes  obstructive,  interfering  with  the 
accuracy  of  the  process,  or  giving  a  bias  to  the  conclu- 
sions. In  the  form  in  which  it  is  stated,  the  principle 
is  probably  always  true,  that  feeling  and  thinking,  if 
either  or  both  be  intense,  are  mutually  disturbing,  and 
yet,  other  conditions  being  the  same,  a  glow  of  agree- 
able feeling  must  be  upon  any  act  of  knowing  to  bring 
it  up  to  the  best.  Fear,  however,  or  anger,  suspicion, 
or  hatred,  is,  with  almost  anyone,  a  bar  to  clear  under- 
standing or  intelligent  effort,  and  especially  is  this  so 
of  children.  Occasionally  an  adult  mind  may  be  stim- 
ulated to  do  its  best  work  in  the  face  of  fierce  opposition, 
or  distrust ;  not  so  of  children.  "  Fear,"  says  Alexander 
Bain,*  "  wastes  the  energy  and  scatters  the  thoughts, 
and  is  ruinous  to  the  interests  of  mental  progress.  Its 
one  certain  result  is  to  paralyze  and  arrest  action,  or 

*  "  Education  as  a  Science,"  p.  54,  67. 


288  Science  of  Education 

else  to  concentrate  force  at  some  central  point  at  the 
cost  of  general  debility.  The  tyrant,  working  by 
terror,  disarms  rebelliousness,  but  fails  to  procure 
energetic  service."  Timidity,  anger,  hatred,  undue 
rivalry,  oversensitiveness*  are,  in  their  several  ways, 
equally  opposed  to  effective  exercise  of  thought  power, 
or  of  reasonable  behavior.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
pleasurable  feeling  that  stimulates  to  activity  is  to  be 
cultivated  in  all  natural  ways.  The  author  just  quoted 
says :  "  With  understood  exceptions,  pleasure  is  related 
physically  with  vitality,  health,  vigor,  harmonious  ad- 
justment of  all  parts  of  the  system ;  it  needs  sufficiency 
of  nutriment  or  support,  excitement  within  due  limits, 
and  the  absence  of  anything  that  could  mar  or  irritate 
any  organ." 

The  pedagogical  meanings  of  such  words  are  easily 
derived.  Next  to  a  keen  purpose,  the  feelings  are 
thought's  best  ally,  but  a  destructive  and  relentless 
enemy.  Both  hope  and  danger  lie  that  way.  Prima- 
rily, all  activity  of  the  mind  involves  an  element  of  the 
pleasurable.  Even  anger  and  spite  and  terror  have 
their  attractions.  One  sometimes  enjoys  nursing  his 
passion ;  but  just  the  same,  its  presence  endangers  the 
thinking  and  the  free  purpose  behind  effort,  as  well. 
Undue  excitement,  even  though  pleasurable,  is  to  be 
discouraged.  Class  enthusiasm  may  be  only  noise  and 
confusion.  The  thoughtful  and  efficient  teacher  will 
distinguish  between  real  interest — even  abounding  in- 
terest— and  the  ebullience  of  mere  excitment. 

Along  with  the  general  description  of  the  mental 


Mental  Processes  289 

processes  just  given  there  are  certain  classifications  of 
them  that  have  pedagogical  importance.  It  will  be 
understood  that  the  grouping  given  is  for  pedagogical 
purposes  rather  than  scientific.  First,  they  are  to  be 
discriminated  as  either  sensuous  or  ideal.  By  Spencer 
and  others,  the  two  processes  are  called  presentative  and 
representative.  If  the  mental  act  be  still  further  re- 
moved from  the  activity  of  the  senses,  it  becomes  re- 
representative.  Any  process  that  rests  immediately 
upon  the  exercise  of  the  senses  is  sensuous  or  presenta- 
tive. Seeing,  observing,  perceiving,  feeling  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  object,  are  sensuous  acts  of  mind.  Even 
memory,  imagination  and  judgment,  that  deal  directly 
with  the  relatively  bare  images  of  the  sense,  are  of  this 
class.  Emotion  in  the  presence  of  nature,  and  having 
immediate  reference  to  its  incitements,  has  the  like 
character. 

Of  course,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  sharp 
line  of  division  between  the  more  complex  sense-pro- 
voked activities  and  the  simple  representative  forms. 
In  general  the  former  are  more  lively,  seemingly  more 
real,  of  narrow  and  specific  import,  and  thing-endowed, 
as  compared  with  the  corresponding  representative  acts 
involving  conceptions  and  thinking,  though  this  be  of 
the  simple  sort.  But  in  the  natural  order  the  former 
shade  into  the  latter,  and  "  our  inward  images  tend 
invincibly  to  attach  themselves  to  something  sensi- 
ble." A  relative  independence,  however,  from  the 
limitations  of  the  sense-perception  is  essential  to  real 
*  James.  "  Psychology,"  ii,  p.  305. 


290  Science  of  Education 

thinking.  The  condition  of  growth  from  one  to  the 
other  is  not  to  have  less  to  do  with  the  activity  and 
product  of  the  senses,  but  to  save  in  the  higher  images 
the  essential  marks  derived  in  many  perceptions.  One 
indispensable  factor  in  all  right  thinking  (in  all  safe 
representative  processes)  is  a  habit  of  accurate  sensing. 
There  is  no  representation  worthy  of  the  name  that  does 
not  rest  upon  an  abundant  and  discriminating  sensuous 
experience. 

In  all  matters  of  intellectual  growth,  much  else  may 
be  safely  omitted,  if  only  a  sound  habit  of  thinking 
be  grounded  upon  an  adequate  store  of  presentative 
knowledge.  This  dependence  is  one  of  vital  importance 
in  schooling,  and  yet  one  that  is  almost  habitually  dis- 
regarded, even  in  specially  devised  sense-exercises. 
From  a  secondary  source,  to  learn  a  list  of  facts  about 
an  object  is  not  an  act  of  sense-perceiving. 

Mental  processes,  also,  are  either  pleasure-giving  or 
pain-giving;  in  the  activity  or  in  the  product,  or  both. 
The  agreeable  movement  will  be  often  repeated.  Pain 
and  the  remembrance  of  pain  lead  to  the  inhibitions  of 
acts,  or  to  caution,  or  stoical  endurance.  Constitution- 
ally, the  mind  finds  pleasure  in  sensing,  and  imaging, 
remembering,  thinking,  purposing,  planning,  and  do- 
ing. Each  may  become  painful  if  associated  with  dis- 
agreeable sensations,  or  frightful  images,  or  distressing 
memories,  or  forced  thinking,  etc.  But  one,  even  a 
very  young  child,  may  often  be  won  to  a  disagreeable 
task  through  hope  of  accomplishing  an  ultimate  cov- 
eted good  or  pleasure  that  lies  beyond.  A  valuable  par- 


Mental  Processes  291 

agraph  in  Bain's  "  Education  as  a  Science "  is  that 
wherein  he  discusses  the  means  of  arousing  an  interest 
in  the  indifferent;  attention  to  what  is  not  in  itself 
pleasurable.  "  The  beginnings  of  knowledge,"  he  says,* 
"  are  in  activity  and  in  pleasure,  but  the  culminating 
point  is  in  the  power  of  attending  to  things  in  them- 
selves indifferent."  The  energies  do  not  lend  them- 
selves to  tasteless  efforts.  The  end  to  be  attained  must 
be  seen  to  be  worth  striving  for.  The  intermediate 
steps  may  be  disagreeable  or  at  least  unattractive,  but 
they  will  be  taken,  and  may  be  taken  cheerfully,  if  the 
object  to  be  reached  is  felt  (by  the  child)  to  be  worth 
while — worth  the  effort  and  the  distress.  If  it  be 
thought  eminently  desirable  or  relatively  so  to  the 
pupil,  the  distress  may  be  forgotten — unfelt  even, 
borne  with  pleasure — the  end  with  its  own  anticipated 
joy  saturating  the  means  with  content.  In  another 
paragraph  the  author  last  quoted  concludes :  "  To  fall 
in  love  with  and  pursue  the  indifferent  and  insipid  is 
a  contradiction  in  terms.  It  is  as  means  to  ends  that 
things  indifferent  in  themselves  can  command  atten- 
tion." f  But,  for  the  individual,  the  highest  value  at- 
taches to  the  purposed  or  habitual  substitution  of  dis- 
tant ends  for  immediate  ones  as  stimulus  to  such  action. 
Again,  mental  processes  are  either  spontaneous  or 
controlled.  These  represent,  rather,  stages  in  mental 
development  than  unlike  process-forms  at  the  same 
stage.  The  former  is  characteristic  of  childhood,  es- 

*  Bain.     "  Education  as  a  Science,"  p.  178. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  181. 


292  Science  of  Education 

pecially  the  earliest  years ;  the  latter  of  the  later  youth 
and  adulthood.  Nevertheless,  even  in  the  experiences 
of  the  young,  there  are  few  if  any  activities  that  are 
altogether  spontaneous,  and  among  older  people  there 
are  none  who  do  not  show  more  or  less  of  impulsiveness 
in  their  behavior,  or  opinions,  or  conclusions.  This, 
nevertheless,  is  a  cardinal  distinction  in  the  mind's 
processes.  The  difference  is  measured  in  meaning  by 
such  words  as  "  intent,"  "  purpose,"  "  choice,"  "  de- 
cision," "  selection,"  "  rejection,"  "  preference," 
"  scepticism,"  "  consent,"  etc.,  etc.,  the  mind  putting 
upon  each  act  so  valued  its  seal  of  decision. 

The  two  forms  of  process  are  applicable  to  practically 
all  the  functions  of  the  mind.  Memory  has  its  voluntary 
side  in  recollection ;  imagination,  as  philosophical  or 
constructive ;  thinking,  in  formal  judgments ;  perception, 
in  investigation;  sympathy,  in  beneficence;  gregari- 
ousness,  in  sociability,  etc.  The  natural  tendency,  other 
conditions  being  equivalent,  is  away  from  control  and 
toward  impulse.  Recollection  tends  to  deteriorate  into 
remembrance,  or  reminiscence;  imagination,  into 
fancy ;  thinking,  into  playing  with  the  "  symbols  of 
thinking " ;  investigation,  into  passive  seeing ;  sym- 
pathy, into  mere  gush  of  feeling;  sociability,  into  dis- 
sipation of  companionship;  attention,  to  mere  aimless 
interest.  The  tendency  of  all  directed  education  is 
toward  a  larger  possible  purposeful  activity.  This  it  is, 
to  be  educable;  to  take  on  the  higher,  because  more 
fruitful  and  serviceable  forms  of  intended  activity. 
The  two  are  not  always  readily  distinguishable.  But 


Mental  Processes  293 

the  field  is  an  inviting  one  for  study  and  for  peda- 
gogical results. 

Processes,  further,  are  either  analytic  or  synthetic. 
In  character  the  two  are  sharply  opposed  to  each  other, 
and  mutually  exclusive,  though  intimately  associated. 
By  implication,  at  least,  if  not  positively,  each  is  pres- 
ent in  every  act  of  the  other.  Chronologically,  and 
therefore  psychologically,  analysis  is  primary  and  fun- 
damental. The  simple  way  of  regarding  an  object  is 
to  see  it  as  a  unit.  The  impression  is  of  the  thing  as 
one  and  undivided.  Seeing  it  as  divisible  is  the  first 
step  of  the  mind  in  analysis.  In  thought,  dividing  the 
whole  into  parts,  and  recognizing  these  as  parts  of  this 
whole  is  the  completed  act  of  analysis.  In  a  way, 
"  analysis  of  a  thing  means  separate  attention  to  each 
of  its  parts."  Any  given  act  of  analysis  is  furthered  by 
past  experience;  by  knowing  what  may  reasonably  be 
looked  for.  But  thinking  a  whole  into  its  parts  has 
been  accompanied  from  the  beginning  of  the  act  by 
the  constant  tendency  of  the  mind  to  cover  these  back 
into  the  whole,  which  is  nascent  synthesis.  The  two 
have  gone  along  together,  as  they  must  always  go  along 
together.  Each  implies  the  other.  If  there  were  no 
parts  recognizable  as  making  up  a  whole,  as  belonging 
together  in  that  way,  there  would  be  no  whole  to  be 
known  as  resolvable  into  parts.  But  the  first  act  of  the 
mind,  as  a  distinct  act  of  consciousness,  is  in  the  recog- 
nition of  the  individual  as  such.  All  words  at  first  are 
proper  names.  Each  thing  or  person  or  idea  is  a  com- 
plete object  of  thought.  In  time  the  parts  of  each  are 


294  Science  of  Education 

discriminated,  and  the  relations  of  these  parts  or  mean- 
ings ;  in  time,  also,  the  likeness  of  the  relations  among 
the  parts  of  different  objects.  But  throughout  the  proc- 
ess the  mind  harks  back  through  the  parts  and  im- 
plicit relations  to  the  whole  for  a  fresh  start,  and  so 
by  a  rudimentary  synthesis  verifies  its  analysis.  It  is 
this  retracing  of  the  steps  that  lends  the  act  of  analysis 
validity,  and  satisfies  the  mind. 

The  unspoiled  mind  goes  through  this  process  nat- 
urally and  with  pleasure.  It  should  be  no  less  efficient 
in  the  formal  exercises  of  the  school,  nor  less  agreeable. 
Objects  of  nature,  human  achievement,  the  fine  arts, 
language  and  other  expressions,  calculation,  the  facts 
and  conditions  of  health,  personal  conduct,  and  social 
conventions,  as  representative  of  school  studies,  must 
each  be  resolved  in  the  same  way,  if  resolved  at  all. 
And  it  need  only  be  mentioned,  not  argued,  that  this 
recognition  of  parts  and  relations  of  qualities  and  uses 
must  be  the  child's  own  act;  neither  the  analysis  nor 
the  synthesis  can,  with  advantage,  be  manufactured  for 
the  child  by  parent  or  teacher  and  handed  over  to  him 
ready  made.  The  act,  to  be  worth  anything,  must  be 
his ;  the  product,  if  not  the  result  of  his  own  thinking, 
has  for  him  no  meaning  at  all. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
MENTAL  PROCESSES   (Concluded) 

FINALLY  among  the  classes  of  mental  processes  to  be 
considered  are  two  kindred  to  those  just  mentioned — in- 
terpretative and  constructive.  These  are  variously  com- 
bined in  individual  capacities.  Each  implies  the  other, 
but  is  less  consciously  present  in  the  other  than  was 
shown  of  analysis  and  synthesis.  Many  persons  are 
able  to  enjoy  music  of  the  better  sort  who  are  altogether 
incapable  of  combining  tones  into  harmonies,  or  even 
into  themes,  or  musical  phrases.  Appreciation  implies 
a  degree  of  interpretation,  discovering  the  harmony  in 
the  piece  of  music,  and  a  discrimination  and  enjoyment 
of  the  parts,  or  of  particular  phrases,  or  tone  series  of 
the  theme,  regarded  as  parts  of  the  whole;  and  by 
implication,  as  noted  in  the  last  paragraph,  constitutes 
formal  or  rudimentary  analysis,  but  stops  short  of  the 
form  of  original  creativeness,  represented  by  what  has 
been  called  the  constructive  act.  The  two  processes 
are  very  distinct.  This  power  to  interpret  may  be 
applied  to  understanding  a  machine,  an  industrial  plant, 
a  commercial  system,  an  army,  the  artistic  features  of 
a  picturesque  landscape,  an  argument,  an  historical  es- 
say, or  a  poem,  without  bringing  the  observer  nearer  to 
being  able  to  construct  or  direct  the  construction  of 

295 


296  Science  of  Education 

such  machine,  to  administer  an  industrial  plant  or  a 
given  commercial  system,  to  dictate  the  movements  of 
an  army,  to  describe  the  landscape,  or  to  compose  the 
argument,  the  historical  treatise,  or  the  poem.  And 
yet  for  every  individual,  in  one  form  or  another,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  both  powers  are  native  endow- 
ments. The  former  has  been  the  object  of  most  sys- 
tems of  formal  training;  the  latter  has  been  largely  dis- 
regarded. The  schools  have  sought  to  cultivate  the 
understanding,  the  power  to  apprehend,  to  interpret,  to 
explain ;  but  rarely  to  do,  to  make,  to  execute ;  to  imitate, 
to  accept,  to  follow  authority — but  not  to  initiate,  to 
originate,  to  lead,  to  direct. 

This  appears  to  be  more  difficult;  it  is  a  more  diffi- 
cult process.  But,  all  the  more  for  this  reason,  there 
is  need  of  efforts  at  systematic  cultivation.  In  its  be- 
ginning, synthesis  is  only  the  other  side  of  a  process 
•that  on  one  side  is  analysis.  In  its  higher  forms  it  is 
much  more  complex.  Interpretation  is  related  to  anal- 
ysis; constructiveness  to  synthesis.  But  when  the  con- 
structive art  takes  on  the  character  of  invention  or  com- 
position it  becomes  more  complicated.  In  analysis  the 
whole  is  given  whose  parts  are  to  be  discriminated;  in 
synthesis  the  whole  itself  is  to  be  found,  and  elements 
gathered  to  constitute  this  hypothetic  whole.  This  is 
not  more  true — to  use  again  the  first  illustration — of 
musical  composition  than  of  mechanical  invention  and 
manufacture,  the  framing  of  ordinances,  the  construc- 
tion of  a  philosophical  system,  the  composition  of  a 
metrical  story,  or  devising  and  working  out  an  educa- 


Mental  Processes  297 

tional  policy.  Just  as  it  is  easier  in  physical  phenomena 
to  trace  effects  from  a  given  cause  than,  given  a  mani- 
fold of  effects,  to  find  their  cause,  so  is  the  selection 
and  building  up  of  detached  experiences  or  ideas  into 
constituted  wholes  of  meaning  and  influence  correspond- 
ingly difficult.  Its  conserving  requires  positive  effort, 
except  perhaps  in  the  case  of  special  endowments;  but 
the  investment  yields  large  returns  of  power  in  initia- 
tive and  resourcefulness. 

Much  may  be  done  in  the  accustomed  routine  of  the 
school.  An  increase  in  the  relative  amount  of  doing, 
as  compared  with  the  merely  thinking  and  interpreting 
exercises;  more  originating  of  designs  by  pupils,  and 
the  working  out  of  their  own  designs;  more  learning 
that  finds  its  end  in  doing,  or  conduct,  or  execution — 
or  learning  through  thoughtful  doing,  or  purposed  con- 
duct, or  studied  execution — would,  does,  add  greatly 
to  the  improvement  of  the  creative,  constructive  faculty. 

But  of  all  the  processes  of  the  mind  the  two  most 
fundamental,  perhaps,  in  a  pedagogical  sense,  are  dis- 
crimination and  attention.  Professor  James  mentions  as 
the  fundamental  forces — after  sensibility — discrimina- 
tion, association,  memory,  and  choice.  Bain  speaks  of 
discrimination,  agreement,  and  retentiveness  as  being 
"  the  three  great  functions  of  the  intellect."  Sully 
accepts  this  classification.  In  most  other  psychologies 
little  is  made  of  discrimination  except  as  an  incidental 
accompaniment  of  the  other  functions.  And  yet  Mr. 
Sully  insists  *  that  "  the  discrimination  of  difference  is 

*  "  The  Human  Mind,"  i,  p.  62. 


298  Science  of  Education 

the  most  fundamental  and  constant  element  in  intel- 
lection." "  Every  cognition,"  says  D.  G.  Thompson,* 
"  is  a  cognition  of  difference.  Hence  consciousness  of 
difference  is  a  universal  element  of  states  of  conscious- 
ness." And  Bain  again  asserts,  "  The  beginning  of 
knowledge  is  discrimination." 

So  much  has  been  said  of  discrimination,  by  way  of 
introduction,  in  this  paragraph  because,  in  general, 
more  emphasis,  perhaps  a  disproportioned  emphasis,  has 
been  placed,  by  most  writers,  upon  association  than 
upon  the  process  named.  Porter  in  "  The  Human  In- 
tellect "  devotes  a  long  chapter  to  the  former,  and  in 
a  book  of  nearly  seven  hundred  pages  only  incidentally 
mentions  the  latter.  By  recent  writers  the  two  are  gen- 
erally co-ordinated.  Not  all  agree  in  ranking  retentive- 
ness  with  the  other  two,  although  Sully  does  do  so. 
The  two  processes  to  which  this  paragraph  is  given, 
however,  are  discrimination  and  attention :  the  former  as 
carrying  with  it  by  implication  associative  and  related 
integrative  processes;  the  latter  as  being  equally  essen- 
tial and  having  peculiar  pedagogical  bearings.  Both 
are  primary  processes. 

There  seems  to  be,  as  pointed  out  by  an  occasional 
writer,  a  prevailing  tendency  in  the  mind  to  inte- 
grate its  experiences,  the  law  being  that  "  all  things 
fuse  that  can  fuse,  and  nothing  separates  except 
what  must."  Yet  this  "  separating "  of  experiences, 
thinking  them  in  terms  of  their  differences,  not  less 
than  their  likenesses,  is  essential  to  clear  thought  or 

*  "  A  System  of  Psychology,"  i,  p.  104. 


Mental  Processes  299 

reasoning.  It  is  the  one  representative  process  by 
which  the  imagination  gets  its  elements  for  recom- 
bining  into  new  forms.  Pleasures  and  pains  begin 
in  discriminated  sensations  and  feelings.  As  has 
been  already  pointed  out  by  Bain,  in  his  "  Mental  Sci- 
ence," all  mental  life  is  dependent  upon  change.  An 
unchanging  world  of  matter,  without  variation  of  move- 
ment or  color  or  size  or  shape  or  other  quality,  would 
be  unknowable.  As,  for  the  infant,  the  world  of  thing 
and  action  exists  primarily  as  a  confused  whole,  which 
yields  but  slowly  to  division  and  particular  impressions; 
so  to  the  older  child,  as  pupil,  the  store  of  literature  and 
history  and  science  first  appears  as  a  more  or  less  tan- 
gled and  obscurely  ordered  mass  of  possible  facts,  which, 
/through  discrimination  and  comparison,  become  real 
facts  of  mind,  and  hence,  to  him,  facts  of  nature  and 
art.  It  is  a  process  of  inventorying  a  consignment 
which,  when  singled  out  and  labeled,  and  in  time  classed, 
becomes  his  own. 

Governments  and  functions  and  peoples,  and  cus- 
toms and  institutions,  and  cultures  and  arts,  and 
ideals  and  phenomena,  and  forces  and  material  forms, 
are,  by  each  one  for  himself,  to  be  experienced,  par- 
celed out,  and  objectified;  and  this  is  a  large  part  of 
the  child's  study  of  literature  and  history  and  science. 
Naturally,  almost  from  the  beginning  of  any  particular 
activity,  there  has  gone  along  the  corresponding  process 
of  classification,  assimilation,  including  comparisons  and 
association  in  terms  of  likenesses.  But  there  could  be 
no  comparison,  or  association,  or  assimilation  unless 


300  Science  of  Education 

there  were  discriminated  parts  or.  elements,  to  be  com- 
pared, or  associated,  or  assimilated.  No  impression, 
whether  obtained  through  the  senses  or  through  reflec- 
tion, is  definite  or  clear  unless  it  is  picked  out  and  dis- 
tinguished from  others.  Gladstone's  epigram,  that  he 
"  never  quite  knew  a  thing  till  he  had  run  the  fingers 
of  his  mind  around  the  edges  of  the  thought,"  illus- 
trates the  point  admirably.  The  power  to  isolate  an 
object,  or  an  idea,  or  a  theme,  or  a  picture,  or  an  act, 
and  make  it  the  object  of  one's  attention,  is  a  vital 
achievement  in  all  learning — vital  on  the  plane  of  sense, 
vital  in  judgment  and  reasoning.  Assimilation  is  im- 
portant; but  this  process  seems  to  be  assured  by  the 
mind  itself;  besides,  its  frequent  and  careful  exposition 
has  made  it  better  understood.  Discrimination  is  often 
difficult,  and  there  is  an  observable  tendency  in  most 
minds,  especially  those  of  children,  to  neglect  it.  For 
the  highest  uses  it  requires  an  effort  or  the  incentive  of 
an  outer  guidance.  It  tends  to  deteriorate,  leaving  the 
mind  content  with  indistinct  impressions  and  sensations, 
vague  mental  images,  relatively  blurred  experiences, 
and  confused  judgments. 

In  the  history  of  the  race,  science,  whose  classifica- 
tions rest  upon  distinct  and  accurate  discriminations, 
is  a  very  recent  achievement.  Most  people  of  the  pres- 
ent day  do  not  think  in  this  latter  sense.  For  most  of 
them  the  mainland  of  experience  is  parceled  out  by 
the  traditional  system  of  metes  and  bounds,  carelessly 
fixed  at  first,  and  the  marks  soon  lost.  Right  think- 
ing fixes  boundaries  and  distinctions,  and  interprets 


Mental  Processes  301 

ownership  in  terms  of  these  not  less  than  in  terms  of 
content  as  such.  Pedagogically,  this  all  means  that 
the  pupil  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  only  such  dis- 
criminations as  he  is  able  to  make,  and  for  all  such. 

The  one  further  act  of  mind  here  to  be  considered 
is  attention.  Few  will  venture  to  disagree  with  Rosen- 
kranz  in  the  often  quoted  dictum  that  "  To  education 
the  conception  of  attention  is  the  most  important  one 
of  all  those  derived  from  psychology."  The  topic  is 
not  introduced  here  for  scientific  treatment,  but  to 
advert  to  such  phases  of  the  process  as  are  important 
educationally,  and  especially  pedagogically.  Extracts 
might  be  indefinitely  multiplied,  showing  a  consensus 
of  opinion  in  harmony  with  that  of  Rosenkranz.  A 
few  only  need  be  noted.  Guyau  says :  "  The  cultiva- 
tion of  attention  is  the  secret  of  all  intellectual  train- 
ing"; and  Ladd:  "Attention,  the  selective  focusing  of 
psychic  energy,  is  the  primary  condition  of  all  intelli- 
gence"; and  Sully:  "The  processes  of  rational  atten- 
tion constitute  a  main  factor  in  all  that  we  understand 
by  thinking."  Mr.  Gordy  says:  "  The  purpose  of 
teaching  is  to  develop  the  power  of  attending  to  the 
right  things  in  the  right  way";  and  James:  "  An  edu- 
cation which  should  improve  this  faculty  would  be  edu- 
cation par  excellence." 

It  will  be  apparent  that,  both  psychologically  and 
pedagogically,  the  act  called  attention  is  an  essential  for 
any  real  mental  work  by  any  function.  It  is  recog- 
nized as  present  as  an  active  factor  in  both  feeling 
and  knowing;  in  perception,  imagination,  comparison, 


302  Science  of  Education 

discrimination;  and,  especially,  in  thinking  and  reason- 
ing. What  we  remember  or  recollect  depends  in  large 
measure  upon  what  we  attend  to.  "  To  attend,"  it  has 
been  said,  "  means  to  perform  other  functions  of  the 
mind  with  care  and  with  energy."  It  is  not  to  be 
thought  of  as  a  faculty  or  power,  but  rather  as  a  process, 
a  way  of  acting,  the  mode,  a  mode  of  the  mind's  activ- 
ity. In  this  sense  it  has  been  defined  as  the  process  of 
cognition  itself — "  the  movement  of  the  mind  from 
feeling-consciousness  to  thought-consciousness."  Inclu- 
sively, as  to  product,  "  my  experience,"  says  Professor 
James,  "  is  what  I  agree  to  attend  to." 

From  which,  and  other  considerations,  it  will  be  ob- 
vious that  there  are  certain  well-defined  characteristics 
of  this  act  called  attention.  Primarily,  it  is  a  selective 
act;  in  childhood,  less  consciously  so  than  in  adult 
years,  but  selective  nevertheless.  It  employs  discrim- 
ination, and  out  of  several  possible  objects,  or  impres- 
sions, or  trains  of  thought  that  may  be  followed,  atten- 
tion is,  in  a  clear  and  vivid  way,  taking  one  and  con- 
verging upon  it  available  mental  energy.  It  is  analytic 
and  primary.  It  means  effort,  intent;  but  discriminat- 
ing intent.  With  something  of  prevision,  it  chooses 
what  the  mind  shall  see,  or  remember,  or  think,  or  do, 
or  enjoy,  or  use.  The  act  of  attention  is,  so  far,  an  act 
of  detention,  holding  before  the  mind  the  object  of  its 
interest,  for  detailed  beholding  or  inquiry.  Within  the 
field  of  its  choice  the  act  is  comprehensive  and  critical. 
It  is  the  spirit  of  all  investigation  and  intelligent 
"  study."  It  is  responsible  for  the  faithfulness  to  fact 


Mental  Processes  303 

of  all  high  art ;  and  of  the  intellect  to  truth ;  and  of  the 
heart  and  will  to  character.  It  makes  possible  the 
mind's  discriminations  in  science  and  philosophy. 

In  the  early  years  of  childhood  the  "  selection  "  is 
mainly  by  means  of  the  child's  constitutional  prefer- 
ences, or  the  passing  influence  of  his  teachers.  In  a 
sense,  his  interest  is  solicited,  apparently  impelled,  and 
so  his  attention.  The  objects  or  ideas  are  not  always  of 
his  own  choosing.  But  as  the  early  semi-purposeless  acts 
of  imitation  are  the  beginning  of  his  later  purposeful 
doing,  so  these  solicited  acts  of  attention  prepare  the 
mind  for  the  more  consciously  discriminating  processes 
later.  This  is  the  order  of  growth:  those  were  chiefly 
occasioned  by  environment,  including  teachers  and 
elders;  for  the  maturer  form  there  must  be  inner  occa- 
sion, self-intent ;  a  purposed  "  focalization,  a  concentra- 
£ion  of  consciousness;  a  withdrawal  from  some  things, 
in  order  to  deal  effectively  with  others."  It  is  purpose- 
ful; and  when  one  considers  that  attention  is  this  deter- 
mining exercise  of  will  upon  the  various  mental,  and 
especially  intellectual,  functions,  it  need  not  seem  strange 
that  one  should  be  drawn  to  make  the  somewhat  exag- 
gerated statement  that  "  volition  is  nothing  but  atten- 
tion." * 

The  importance  of  the  will  and  the  part  it  plays  in 
the  act  of  attention  will  appear  from  another  consid- 
eration also.  In  contrast  with  the  sentence  just  quoted 
from  Professor  James  is  the  following  from  Professor 
Ladd  f  to  the  effect  that  "  attention  is  identical  with 

*  James.     "Psychology,"  i,  p.  447. 

f  "  Outlines  of  Descriptive  Psychology,"  p.  42. 


304  Science  of  Education 

interest,  and  interest  is  feeling."  It  is  not  necessary 
to  indorse  either  of  these  probably  extreme  statements 
to  recognize  that  both  interest  and  will  are  important 
factors,  and  ever-present  ones,  in  giving  character  to 
attention.  The  degree  and  kind  of  interest  one  has  in- 
fluences his  attention,  without  doubt.  "  The  mind 
tends  to  attend  to  what  is  pleasurable."  "  In  the  pres- 
ence of  the  more  enjoyable,"  says  Bain,*  "  the  less 
enjoyable  is  disregarded."  The  movement  of  the  mind 
is,  in  general,  toward  the  pleasing ;  as  a  product  of  evo- 
lution it  should  be  so.  Attention  to  the  disagreeable, 
as  a  rule,  is  infertile.  Only  that  which  has  been 
learned  on  a  rising  tide  of  interest  is  a  productive  factor 
in  experience.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  attention 
with  an  effort,  willed  attention,  excludes  interest.  All 
attention  worthy  of  the  name  is  a  purposed  conver- 
gence of  function,  and  may  be,  often  is,  always  at  best, 
in  line  with  some  conceived  interest.  Consciously  di- 
rected attention  is  not,  then,  necessarily,  or  usually, 
perhaps,  an  accent  of  the  disagreeable  to  fix  its  mean- 
ings, but  more  often  a  reinforcement  of  mere  interest 
to  make  both  more  effective.  Sometimes  the  two  are 
at  discord  with  each  other;  and  interest  being  diverted, 
will  is  left  to  pull  against  gravity.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  inattention  is  not  non-attention,  and  is 
often  nothing  more  than  the  attention  of  interest  over- 
riding the  effort  of  the  will.  The  most  inattentive 
member  of  the  class  may  be  the  most  attentive  really, 
and  most  productively  so. 

*  "  Education  as  a  Science,"  p.  179. 


Mental  Processes  305 

The  confusion  that  has  just  been  noticed,  in  part 
grows  out  of  the  failure  to  distinguish  between  the 
more  remote  interests  of  the  man  and  the  relatively 
local  and  transient  interests  of  the  child.  The  one 
is  absorbed  by  the  thing  he  does — whether  it  be 
reading,  playing,  making  a  toy,  or  planning  a  holi- 
day: the  other,  setting  himself  to  the  accomplishing 
of  some  distant  end,  finds  a  quieter,  maybe,  but  a 
genuine  and  abiding  content  in  the  daily  tasks  as 
contributing  steps.  As  a  form  of  growth,  along  this 
way  lies  the  cultivation  of  attention.  Voluntary  at- 
tention is  thus  always  "  derived,"  not  immediate,  as 
it  is  in  the  earlier  form.  That  is,  it  has  a  borrowed  in- 
terest that  projects  itself  into  the  future,  and  reflects 
upon  each  detail  of  the  way  the  influence  of  a  higher 
faculty.  Dr.  Harris,  in  his  notes  upon  Rosenkranz's 
"  Intellectual  Education,"  *  calls  the  successive  stages 
of  development  "  moments  of  attention,"  and  names 
four:  (1)  as  a  mere  power  of  isolating  one  object  from 
others;  (2)  as  analysis,  or  continued  attention;  (3) 
as  abstraction;  and  (4)  as  synthesis,  in  which  the  atten- 
tion is  fixed  upon  the  essential  relations  discovered  by 
analysis  and  abstraction. 

Among  the  conditions  of  effective  attention  may  be 
named  a  sense  of  pleasurable  activity,  the  growing  of 
selective  interest,  regulated  intensity  of  stimulus, 
health  and  physical  vigor,  and  a  clear  and  steady  pur- 
pose. These  conditions  themselves  will  suggest  a  num- 
ber of  difficulties,  or  the  obstacles  to  attention;  these 

*  "  Philosophy  of  Education,"  p.  71. 


306  Science  of  Education 

and  some  others  follow :  weakness  of  bodily  powers ;  an 
unfavorable  environment  (of  sights,  or  sounds,  or  tem- 
perature, or  ventilation,  or  furniture)  ;  a  wandering 
mental  habit ;  a  "  waiting "  temperament  or  a  vola- 
tile one;  and  the  imposition  of  unsuitable  tasks.  In 
each  case  the  symptoms  suggest  plainly  enough,  per- 
haps, the  cure.  For  purposes  of  training,  the  effort 
should  be,  not  for  long-continued  attention,  but  for 
sharp,  effective  focusing;  the  chief  defect  is  a  disper- 
sion and  thriftless  use  of  energy.  A  recitation  of  five 
minutes  that  excludes  unrelated  matters  is  more  pro- 
ductive of  mental  efficiency  than  a  half  hour  of  unwill- 
ing effort  that  must  be  held  to  its  task  by  the  teacher's 
device.  Whatever  task  is  attempted  should  be  easy 
enough  to  hold  the  attention,  and  hard  enough  to  claim 
it  Even  the  child  must  see  that  something  is  to  be 
undertaken  that  is  deserving  of  its  attention,  and,  once 
in  the  midst  of  the  doing,  it  must  be  attractive  enough 
to  leave  the  assurance  that  something  is  being  accom- 
plished. Later  the  difficulty  may  be  transferred  to  the 
doing,  but  not  at  first  Do  not  nag  or  quibble  with  the 
pupil;  treat  his  efforts  with  respect;  nagging  is  dis- 
tracting. 


CHAPTER  XXH 
THE   GROWTH   OF  EMOTIONS 

AN  important  chapter  or  paragraph  in  any  treatment 
of  education  in  a  critical  way  is  that  which  regards 
the  growth  or  development  of  mind  or  the  successive 
stages  in  the  mind's  unfolding.  There  is  implied  in 
this  the  growth  and  maturing  of  the  several  functions — 
as  perception,  understanding,  sympathy,  choice.  But 
inasmuch  as  mind,  in  all  essential  respects,  acts  as  a 
whole,  it  is  in  place  here  to  set  forth  first,  as  clearly  as 
may  be,  the  conditions  and  stages  of  the  improving  of 
the  generic  functions;  at  present,  knowing,  feeling. 
The  full  consideration  of  willing,  the  remaining  func- 
tion, will  be  postponed  to  a  subsequent  chapter.  And 
first  of 

The  Feelings 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that,  notwithstanding 
the  increased  emphasis  placed  upon  the  feelings  in  con- 
temporary science,  the  effect  upon  school  practice,  and 
even  upon  educational  theories,  has  been  so  insignifi- 
cant. We  prate  of  understanding,  and  reason,  and  judg- 
ment, and  the  divine  imagination,  and  the  dignity  of 
the  human  will;  and  quote  Shakespeare  on  man — a 

307 


308  Science  of  Education 

wonderful  being;  "  what  a  piece  of  work  is  man;  how 
noble  in  reason ;  how  infinite  in  faculties ;  in  f onn  and 
moving  how  express  and  admirable;  in  action  how 
like  an  angel ;  in  apprehension  how  like  a  god ;  the 
beauty  of  the  world — the  paragon  of  animals  " :  and 
give  little  thought  to  the  systematic  cultivation  of  the 
emotions  and  sentiments.  It  may  be  reasonably  ques- 
tioned, however,  whether  our  feelings  are  not  the  real 
human  masters — the  condition  of  greatness.  "  While 
philosophers  are  disputing  about  the  government  of  the 
world,"  said  Schiller,  "  hunger  and  love  are  perform- 
ing the  task."  In  the  last  analysis,  feeling  is  the  fun- 
damental fact.  "  Our  emotions,"  said  Bascom,  "  pre- 
sent by  far  the  most  numerous,  complex  and  varied 
features  of  the  mind  " ;  in  all  essentials,  a  truer  index 
of  the  soul  than  is  the  intellect.  "  When  one  stops  to 
realize  what  a  large  part  of  our  waking  life  our  emo- 
tions constitute,"  wrote  Oppenheim,  "  he  must  be 
deeply  impressed  by  their  importance.  Such  things  as 
fear  and  rage,  love  and  hate,  reverence  and  cynicism, 
the  recognition  and  the  lack  of  recognition  of  beauty, 
pride  and  humility,  are  among  the  biggest  facts  of 
life." 

In  all  deeper  ways  these  great  and  universal  forces 
lie  much  nearer  the  spring  of  human  action  than 
does  the  intelligence.  Nevertheless,  the  tendency  of 
the  schools  is  too  often  toward  a  hard,  dry,  cold  in- 
tellectualism :  "  the  curricula  of  studies  are  filled  with 
branches  to  give  activity  to  the  intellect;  but  what 
branches  are  given  to  a  cultivation  of  the  sensibilities  ?  " 


The  Growth  of  Emotions  309 

Under  the  caption  of  "  Happy  Association,"  while  dis- 
cussing the  culture  of  the  emotions,  Alexander  Bain 
was  led  to  an  interesting  bit  of  enthusiasm :  "  The  edu- 
cationist could  not  but  cast  a  longing  eye  over  the  wide 
region  here  opened  up  as  a  grand  opportunity  for  his 
art  It  is  the  realm  of  vague  possibility,  peculiarly 
suited  to  sanguine  estimates.  An  education  in  happi- 
ness, pure  and  simple,  by  well-placed  and  joyous  asso- 
ciations is  a  dazzling  prospect " ;  and  he  quotes  ap- 
provingly one  of  Sydney  Smith's  pithy  sayings,  that 
"  if  you  make  children  happy  now  you  make  them 
happy  twenty  years  hence  by  the  memory  of  it." 

Is  it  inevitable,  the  teacher  must  ask  himself,  is  it 
desirable,  that  the  schools  go  on  grinding  out  concepts, 
and  ideas,  and  syllogisms,  and  logic  products — even  if  it 
be  by  the  "  roller  process  "  ?  The  incidental  influences 
of  life  frequently  develop  one  function  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  the  others.  An  established  and  equipped  and  ex- 
pensive system  of  schools,  offering  a  formal,  provident 
training,  should  avoid  that  mistake.  It  would  seem 
that  thought  and  feeling  should  be  permitted,  at  least, 
to  grow  along  together,  if,  indeed,  they  be  not  con- 
sciously yoked  in  reinforcing  activities.  It  is  not 
enough  that  one  have  the  manner  and  pattern  of  good- 
ness ;  goodness  must  be  allied  to  the  feelings  that  help 
it  out.  "  He  alone  is  virtuous,"  said  Aristotle,  more 
than  twenty-two  centuries  ago,  "  who  finds  pleasure  in 
being  so."  The  love  of  learning  is  better  than  any 
possession,  and  a  sense  of  self-respect  than  high  place 
and  power.  Out  of  feelings,  it  has  been  said,  spring 


310  Science  of  Education 

actions;  actions  become  habit;  and  habits  crystallize 
into  character.  The  great  functions  of  the  mind  should 
work  in  harmony,  and  should  be  educated  to  work  so. 
Coleridge's  often-quoted  epigram,  "  My  head  is  with 
Spinoza  but  my  heart  with  Paul  and  John  " ;  and  St 
Paul's,  "  When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with 
me,"  will  find  easy  interpretations  in  the  experiences 
of  most  persons.  "  The  heart  of  man,  which  is  capable 
of  exercising  the  noblest  desires,  the  tenderest  affec- 
tions, the  finest  sentiments,  and  the  sublimest  emo- 
tions, is  likewise  capable  of  being  ruled  by  the  most 
depraved  appetites,  brutish  passions,  and  fiendish  emo- 
tions." What  can  a  discriminating  training  do  to  fore- 
fend  this  possible  miscarriage?  What  are  the  condi- 
tions of  a  healthy  growth  of  the  feelings  into  vigorous, 
liberal,  regulated  emotions?  These  are  questions  in 
practical  pedagogy  to  which  educational  doctrine  may 
suggest  at  least  partial  answers. 

The  emotional  states  are  complex,  and  interminably 
mixed;  rarely  pure,  even  the  simplest  ones;  and  curi- 
ously intractable  in  any  attempt  at  uniform  classifica- 
tion. Indeed,  Professor  James  says  that  "  there  is  no 
limit  to  the  number  of  possible  different  emotions  that 
may  exist,  and  the  emotions  of  different  individuals 
may  vary  indefinitely  " ;  and  concludes  that  any  classi- 
fication of  the  emotions  is  seen  to  be  as  true  and  as 
"  natural "  as  any  other,  if  it  serve  some  purpose.  Mr. 
Bascom  presents  *  a  full-page  diagram,  showing  sixty- 
seven  different  emotions,  under  two  general  heads,  in- 
*  "  Science  of  the  Mind,"  p.  353. 


The  Growth  of  Emotions  311 

tellectual  feelings  and  spiritual  feelings,  but  protests 
that  he  does  not  present  the  classification  as  exhaustive. 
Kant's  grouping  of  the  emotions  into  (1)  melting  emo- 
tions, like  fear  or  sadness  or  mental  shock,  that  par- 
alyze activity,  and  (2)  stirring  emotions,  that  arouse 
activity,  like  joy  or  anger,  is  suggested  for  educational 
criticism,  but  not  directly  helpful  to  teachers.  Ladd 
uses  four  groups :  (1)  sensuous;  (2)  intellectual;  (3) 
aesthetic;  and  (4)  ethical;  that  explain  themselves. 
Sir  William  Hamilton's  arrangement,  slightly  modified 
for  comparison,  shows  (1)  sensuous  feelings;  (2)  con- 
templative feelings  (including  the  intellectual  and 
aesthetic  of  the  previous  classification)  ;  and  (3)  prac- 
tical (comprising  the  self -regarding  and  race-preserv- 
ing feelings).  Sully  has  two  groups  of  the  lower 
type,  sense  feelings  and  animal  emotions ;  and  one  class, 
the  representative  emotions  to  compass  all  the  spirit- 
ual feelings. 

One  other  attempt  at  this  classification  must  not 
be  omitted,  inasmuch  as  it  admirably  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  increasing  representativeness  of  the  feel- 
ing sense  in  its  development.  By  Herbert  Spencer  the 
feelings  are  arranged  *  in  four  classes :  ( 1 )  presenta- 
tive  feelings,  active  sense  feelings;  (2)  presentative- 
representative  feelings,  actual  and  revived  sense  feel- 
ings; (3)  representative  feelings,  revived  sense  feel- 
ings; and  (4)  re-representative  feelings,  as  justice, 
patriotism,  and  the  intellectual  and  ethical  feelings 
generally. 

*  "  Principles  of  Psychology,"  ii,  p.  614. 


Science  of  Education 

Couched  in  technical  terms  as  are  most  of  these 
classifications,  and  especially  Spencer's,  there  is  still 
a  general  agreement  upon  certain  points  worth  not- 
ing: (1)  after  the  lowest  or  organic  feelings,  they 
all  begin  with  the  sense  feelings;  (2)  the  difference 
between  these  and  the  next  and  successively  higher 
forms  is  a  more  or  less  decisive  rise  above  the  plane  of 
the  senses — the  feeling  becomes  in  some  degree  repre- 
sentative, not  merely  presentative ;  (3)  in  each  case  the 
last  group  is  the  most  highly  representative  of  all,  how- 
ever they  may  be  named.  Moreover,  the  three  or  four 
or  five  classes  represent  a  fairly  well  defined  order  of 
development.  If  Ladd's  arrangement  be  taken  as  a 
typical  order,  one  should  say  that  the  sensuous  feelings 
are  (1)  simpler  than  those  that  follow;  (2)  less  spir- 
itual in  character;  (3)  of  earlier  beginning  in  both  the 
race  and  the  individual;  (4)  more  fugitive;  and  (5) 
more  dependent  on  the  bodily  organism.  That,  in  gen- 
eral, the  intellectual  emotions  precede  the  aesthetic  or 
the  ethical;  and  that,  in  the  history  of  both  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  race,  the  development  of  the  last  is  rel- 
atively late. 

The  earliest  forms  are  rather  crude  feelings,  wholly 
self -regarding,  only  rudimentary  as  emotions,  and  chiefly 
instinctive.  They  are  the  immediate  accompaniment 
of  the  sense  activities,  without  imagination,  and  but  lit- 
tle vitalized  by  experience.  These  feelings  are,  as  a  rule, 
intense,  and  often  violent,  unreflecting,  and  will-less. 
Because  they  are  intense  they  are  surprisingly  fugitive, 
superficial,  and  easily  displaced.  In  time  through 


The  Growth  of  Emotions  313 

memory  and  imagination  these  directly  sensuous  feel- 
ings become,  in  a  measure,  idealized,  the  intellectual 
emotions  gain  in  relative  importance,  and  a  sense  of 
beauty  for  other  than  the  superficially  attractive  ap- 
pears. Most  fears  and  forms  of  anger  fade,  if  once 
brought  to  compete  with  real  intelligence.  So  the 
pleasures  of  companionship,  and  rivalry,  and  social 
measurement,  and  the  incident  emotions,  crowd  out  the 
more  troublesome  self-regarding  emotions,  and  take 
their  place,  or  infuse  them  with  the  new  spirit. 

In  general  the  order  of  emotional  growth  may  be  de- 
scribed as  from  sense  to  excitement ;  from  chiefly  nega- 
tive to  positive  feelings ;  from  excitant  to  regulative  con- 
ditions ;  from  immediate  to  associative  and  derived 
meanings;  from  merely  impulsive  to  intelligence-filled 
feelings.  It  has  been  said  that  the  principle  of  associa- 
tive transference  (referred  to  above)  is  "  one  of  the  high- 
est practical  importance.  It  secures  the  persistence  of 
feeling  by  extending  the  range  of  excitant.  We  invest 
indifferent  objects  with  agreeable  or  disagreeable  asso- 
ciations; feeling  becomes  enlarged,  spread  out,  as  well 
as  deepened  and  consolidated  by  the  development  of  rep- 
resentation (imagination  and  thought).  The  individ- 
ual grows  calmer  as  he  grows  older."  Steadiness  of 
purpose,  too,  works  out  steadiness  of  feelings. 

The  very  democracy  of  the  school  is  a  factor  in  regu- 
lating the  emotions.  Many  a  boy  has  been  brought  to  do, 
as  one  of  many,  not  what  he  liked  and  found  his  joy  in, 
but  what  he  must,  and  has  come  to  count  it  greater  joy. 
Child  feelings  are  spontaneous  and  artless.  In  time  one 


314  Science  of  Education 

learns  concealment,  a  counterfeit  manner,  and  what 
Kant  calls  "  impenetrability  of  soul."  It  may  develop 
into  an  extreme  form  of  injury,  but  it  represents  control 
and  attempt  at  regulation.  The  mind  having  formed 
many  associations  (derivative  feelings),  there  is  a  ten- 
dency to  strengthen  associations  in  certain  directions  that 
prevent  or  exclude  other  associations.  "  This  expresses/' 
says  Thompson,  "  the  law  of  habit,  on  its  intellectual 
side."  Selfishness  and  sympathy,  meanness  and  justice, 
hate  and  love,  do  not  rule  a  life  together.  One  or  the 
other  is  likely  to  become  dominant  and  permanent. 
There  is  a  blunting  of  the  emotions  also,  by  age,  by 
study,  etc.,  because  of  which  the  right  stimulation 
of  desirable  ones  in  the  earlier  years  becomes  im- 
portant. The  love  of  the  beautiful,  in  form,  and  color, 
and  conduct,  is  practically  denied  to  one  whose  heart 
and  motives  have  not  been  properly  touched  in  youth. 
If  the  love  of  knowledge,  joy  in  acquisition,  be  not 
awakened  in  childhood,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  in  man- 
hood, however  much  the  mind  may  be  filled  with 
learning. 

A  paragraph  concerning  the  laws  and  conditions  of 
growth  of  the  feelings  must  close  this  discussion.  For 
the  most  part,  the  laws  of  development  of  mind  as  a 
whole,  or  of  the  intellect,  or  of  any  particular  mani- 
festation of  the  intellect,  are  equally  applicable  to  the 
feelings.  For  growth  of  faculty  exercise  is  the  one  pre- 
vailing requisite.  Among  the  feelings  along  with  the 
exercise  of  any  one  feeling  there  goes  repression  of  its 
opposite — repression,  either  direct  or  incidental.  Sym- 


The  Growth  of  Emotions  315 

pathy  itself  may  be  over-sensitive  and  call  for  repres- 
sion. The  essential  quality  of  anger  that  shows  itself  in 
indignation  or  emphatic  self-assertion  may  need  encour- 
agement or  positive  culture.  Sociability  may  be  exces- 
sive; truthfulness  may  accompany  a  morbid  conscien- 
tiousness. 

The  more  intense  feelings,  as  a  rule,  are  transient; 
permanency  is  likely  to  attach  to  moderation  and  con- 
trol. Bursts  of  temper  are  best  left  to  run  their  course. 
Treatment  will  be  likely  to  be  more  effective  when 
the  passion  has  subsided.  Similarly,  over-zealous  affec- 
tion, and  intense  hatred,  and  depth  of  discouragement 
(especially  in  the  young)  are  likely  to  run  but  short 
courses.  Permanence  of  desirable  emotions  is  to  come, 
as  a  rule,  through  this  control  to  moderation.  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  observed  that  like  feelings  sus- 
tain, as  those  unlike  displace  each  other.  In  the 
chance  combinations  of  anger,  hatred,  malice,  and  jeal- 
ousy, or  any  number  of  them,  each  would  be  stronger 
because  of  the  others  present;  as  would  be  truth,  cour- 
age, love,  and  patience  for  the  same  reason.  "With 
children  especially,  new  excitants  are  more  likely  to 
produce  strong  emotions,  and  old  ones  weaker,  though 
customary  things  are  often  more  pleasing  than  are  the 
unfamiliar.  Sympathy,  interest,  content  are  the  great 
harmonizers.  Repugnance,  even  in  its  mildest  form, 
divides  and  estranges. 

It  may  fairly  be  asked  of  the  teacher  that  he  provide 
as  certainly  for  the  right  exercise  of  the  emotions  as 
of  the  faculty  of  understanding;  that  emotions  be 


316  Science  of  Education 

induced  to  issue  in  their  appropriate  action ;  and  that  he 
himself  live  the  emotion  he  would  cultivate  in  his  pupils. 
Whatever  emotion  is  sought  to  be  cultivated  must  be 
reached  by  positive,  though,  as  a  rule,  indirect  exercise ; 
they  must  be  stimulated  to  feel  as  you  would  have  them 
feel.  The  law  of  repetition  holds  here,  too,  as  it  does  with 
the  processes  of  understanding.  Feelings  are  subject  to 
habit,  as  are  talking  and  thinking.  Purposely  to  have 
done  kind  deeds  when  they  were  matters  of  indifference 
makes  it  easier  to  do  kind  things  and  say  kind  words 
when  tempted  to  withhold.  To  refrain  from  anger 
when  the  provocation  is  slight  paves  the  way  for  con- 
trol when  the  provocation  is  great.  A  habit  of  being 
really  and  intellectually  interested  in  things  and  per- 
sons makes  any  fictitious  feeling  about  them  seem 
puerile.  One  is  not  likely  to  cherish  feelings  of 
revenge  or  jealousy  if  the  mind  have  abiding  interests 
to  work  out. 


CHAPTER   XXm 
THE   GROWTH   OF   INTELLIGENCE 

THE  kind  of  growth  that  is  most  familiar  to  teachers, 
in  name  at  least,  is  that  of  the  intellect.  Our  acquaint- 
ance with  knowledge  and  the  thinking  faculty,  and  the 
nature  of  presentative  and  representative  functions  is 
far  more  definite  and  more  systematically  ordered  and 
answerable  to  tests 'than  is  our  knowledge  of  the  will  or 
the  feelings.  But  about  the  details  of  intellectual 
growth  even  there  is  not  a  little  hazy  thinking,  and 
more  hazy  practice  in  the  attempt  to  give  it  direction. 
By  growth  of  body  is  meant  primarily  a  change  in  size, 
though  there  are,  especially  at  certain  periods  of  life, 
considerable  and  influential  changes  of  function  and 
character  as  well ;  by  growth  of  mind  is  meant,  even  to 
the  lay  mind,  chiefly  changes  of  quality,  though  these 
go  along  with  great  accumulations  of  experience — a 
quantitive  change.  In  the  growth  of  the  emotions  the 
modification  is  almost  wholly  one  of  quality,  having  to 
do,  primarily,  with  greater  or  less  degrees  of  intensity, 
and  more  or  less  breadth  and  refinement  of  sensibility. 
The  growth  of  intelligence  may  be  set  off  more  in  detail, 
the  lines  or  stages  of  growth  suggesting  the  right  plac- 

817 


318  Science  of  Education 

ing  of  accent  in  its  culture.  What  these  stages  are  and 
how  they  follow  each  other  is  an  important  paragraph 
in  educational  doctrine. 

First,  and  most  obviously,  growth  of  intelligence  im- 
plies an  increase  in  the  number  of  one's  experiences. 
This  is  the  simplest  and  most  commonly  observed  form. 
However  psychology  may  explain  the  so-called  "  posses- 
sions "  of  mind,  experience  accumulates.  Every  work- 
ing hour  adds  to  the  intellectual  acquisitions  and  reac- 
tions, most,  or  many  of  which,  are  saved  in  a  revivable 
way.  Very  early  the  child  adds  to  his  first  sense- 
impressions  a  knowledge  of  his  language,  the  forms 
of  speech  and  word-symbols ;  people  and  their  behavior 
and  occupations;  natural  phenomena  and  their  simple 
explanations;  tools  and  implements;  and  social  codes; 
ideals  of  conduct  and  the  proprieties,  and  practical 
rights;  local  historical  and  institutional  happenings 
and  order;  and  an  acquaintance  with  his  own  capabili- 
ties and  interests.  As  formal  instruction  progresses  in 
keeping  with  his  own  maturity,  he  acquires  a  store  of 
images  of  literature  and  the  race's  achievement,  and 
the  conclusions  of  science,  and  the  results  of  invention 
and  industry ;  of  story,  and  heroism,  and  adventure ;  of 
travel,  and  distant  peoples,  and  other  times;  most  of 
which,  perhaps,  will  be  irretrievably  lost  to  accustomed 
use,  but  much  of  which  remains  as  recoverable  experi- 
ence in  the  daily  life. 

Altogether  apart  from  the  increased  power  to 
think,  and  to  do,  and  to  enjoy,  there  is,  with  most 
persons,  an  increasing  stock  of  knowledge.  If  this 


The  Growth  of  Intelligence  319 

be  real  knowledge  of  type  forms  and  held  by  the 
understanding,  it  represents  far  more  possible  in- 
sights and  interests  than  the  actual  knowledge  stands 
for  itself.  Through  reflection  and  the  mind's  store  of 
general  notions,  many  other  facts  are  interpretable  upon 
occasion.  All  this  represents  one  very  important  order 
of  growth  of  intelligence.  It  is  the  scholarship  aspect 
of  education,  and  regards  knowledge,  abundant  knowl- 
edge, as  a  legitimate  end  in  training.  Most  schooling 
exalts  this  aspect,  and  the  only  mistake,  if  there  be  one, 
is  in  failing  to  recognize  that  it  is  one  aspect  only ;  very 
important,  not  to  be  disregarded,  but  to  be  carefully 
conserved. 

Not  less  important  than  scholarship  in  characteriz- 
ing the  stages  in  intellectual  education  is  the  implica- 
tion that  there  is  also  an  increase  in  the  complexity 
of  experience.  While  the  first  characteristic  named 
determines  what  shall  be  included  in  a  course  of  study, 
this  goes  far,  especially  in  the  elementary  schools,  to 
fix  the  order  of  exercises.  In  the  somewhat  pedantic  and 
over-technical,  but  accurate,  phrase  of  Herbert  Spen- 
cer, the  invariable  order  of  experience,  in  the  individ- 
ual, as  in  the  race,  is  "  from  the  simple,  the  homoge- 
neous and  the  indefinite,  to  the  complex,  the  heteroge- 
neous and  the  definite."  In  the  natural  order,  and 
therefore,  of  necessity,  in  any  prescribed  order,  the 
simpler,  easier,  more  vague,  and  less  mixed  experi- 
ences come  first;  what  lies  nearest  to  the  child  or  to 
primitive  necessities — these  seem  to  him  to  be  most 
available,  perhaps,  because  most  appealing.  The  more 


320  Science  of  Education 

difficult,  because  more  intricate,  processes  follow  in 
their  order. 

Mind  reveals  its  growth  by  being  somewhat  regu- 
larly more  able  to  meet  the  more  difficult  tasks.  In 
the  nature  of  mind  it  is  evident  that,  from  day 
to  day,  there  will  be  no  appreciable  increase  in  this 
power.  But  growth  of  mind  means  this,  not  less  surely 
than  it  means  increase  of  knowledge.  This  appears  in 
the  later  development  of  the  complex  emotions ;  in  the 
slow  taking  on  of  higher  standards  of  conduct  and 
motives  of  life;  and  in  the  complexity  of  interests  in 
adult  years,  as  compared  with  childhood. 

Because  of  this  trait  of  mind,  the  history  for  children 
is  chiefly  by  story,  picturesque  and  sketchy,  descriptive, 
personal,  and  practically  without  the  time  element. 
Gradually,  the  personal  element  gives  place  to  the  insti- 
tutional ;  occurrences  are  related  in  time ;  causes  and  ef- 
fects are  observed  and  traced ;  and  a  stream  of  human 
endeavor  is  discovered.  The  material  of  the  study  at 
both  extremes  is  much  the  same.  The  difference  lies 
in  the  way  the  mind  is  able  to  use  them.  The  appar- 
ently unrelated  observations  of  nature  also,  and  the 
obvious  meanings  assigned  by  the  primitive  mind,  and 
by  the  child,  become  in  time,  for  both  of  them,  the  com- 
plex whole  of  systematic  science  with  its  rational  ex- 
planations, its  laws,  and  its  predictions.  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  language  knowledge,  of  literature,  of 
art  and  the  arts,  of  conduct  and  ideals.  First  knowl- 
edge is  vague,  scrappy,  of  surface  phenomena,  and  indi- 
vidual. As  applied  to  the  understanding,  growth  of 


The  Growth  of  Intelligence  321 

mind  means  an  increase  in  power  to  grasp  and  unify 
and  use  experiences  of  more  complex,  and,  in  time,  of 
highly  complex  and  interdependent  phenomena.  The 
programme  of  directed  education  finds  in  this  character- 
istic of  mind  the  justification  of  its  order. 

Along  with  this  general  process  of  acquisition,  and 
the  growth  in  power  over  increasing  difficulties,  and  a8 
a  result  of  these,  has  been  developed  an  increasing  fa- 
cility in  the  mental  operations.  What  was  done  with 
difficulty  comes  to  be  done  easily;  what  the  mind  was 
unable  to  do,  it  now  accomplishes.  Practice  in  think- 
ing has  made  thinking  ready.  Much  seeing  has  re- 
moved obstructions  to  seeing.  To  have  used  any  given 
knowledge  many  times  makes  its  use  automatic.  Much 
memorizing  and  reproducing  reduces  the  difficulty  of 
remembering.  By  making  many  kites,  the  knowledge 
of  the  successive  steps  in  kite-making  is  promptly  at 
call  when  needed;  not  necessarily  or  generally  going 
repeatedly  over  the  same  routine,  but  using  many  times 
and  in  various  ways  the  same  elements  or  the  principal 
elements  involved  in  the  routine.  Drill  in  reading — 
while  learning  to  read — does  not  mean  reading  the 
same  selection  often,  but  the  reading  of  many  selec- 
tions of  the  same  grade  of  difficulty,  using  practically 
the  same  vocabulary  and  similar  ideas,  under  different 
themes.  A  lesson  in  geography  is  not  best  learned  by 
repeated  conning  of  the  one  paragraph  about  a  river 
valley,  but  rather  working  up  from  various  points  of 
view  the  simple  story  of  the  river  valley. 

What  is  needed  is  a  ready  acquaintance  with  words — 


322  Science  of  Education 

a  garment  for  thought — not  a  set  of  words  as  a  garment 
for  a  set  thought.  This  characteristic  of  mind  under- 
lies the  exercise  called  drill.  Facility  comes  through 
repeated  doing.  Facility  in  thinking  through  much 
thinking,  not  the  pretence  of  it;  facility  in  calculation 
through  much  use  of  numbers;  facility  in  interpreting 
soil  conditions  from  interpreting  soil  conditions ;  grace 
in  bodily  carriage  through  practising  a  graceful  car- 
riage ;  strength  and  confidence  in  initiative  through  ex- 
ercising one's  initiative,  not  continued  imitation.  Mani- 
fold acquaintance  with  any  well-defined  reaction  will  in 
time  fix  a  habit;  and  habit  is  facile  and  comfortable. 

When  one  considers  the  enormous  increase  of  experi- 
ences with  the  passing  years,  and  the  successively 
harder  tasks  imposed  upon  the  mind,  it  is  apparent  that 
this  provision,  whereby  it  is  able  to  fund  its  experi- 
ences for  easy  and  profitable  returns  without  its  con- 
stant care,  is  a  generous  one.  The  increasing  facility 
is  an  economy  of  both  time  and  energy  and  greatly  adds 
to  the  product  of  the  mind's  conscious  effort  Growth 
of  mind  implies  for  all  of  its  functions  an  increase  in 
the  facility  with  which  the  accustomed  processes  go  on. 
In  society  and  in  the  individual,  facility  of  doing  and 
thinking  underlies  all  convention. 

Both  as  an  accompaniment  and  a  resultant  of  the 
three  processes  already  named,  there  has  been  devel- 
oped an  increased  accuracy  and  precision.  The  change 
in  both  life  and  mind  from  the  indefinite  to  the  defi- 
nite is  one  of  the  characteristic  movements  of  all  evo- 
lution. The  change  is  a  noticeable  and  important  one 


The  Growth  of  Intelligence  323 

in  the  culture  of  the  intellect.  In  all  exchange,  whether 
of  marketable  values  or  ideas,  accuracy  is  much  to  be 
coveted.  But  in  the  educational  process  all  function- 
ing is  to  be  encouraged,  though  it  be  far  from  definite. 
The  value  of  drawing  and  pattern  work;  of  observa- 
tion and  description;  of  vocal  expression;  of  discover- 
ing and  interpreting  causes  among  earth  phenomena ;  of 
tracing  movements  in  history,  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  accuracy  of  the  picture  or  design,  the  truthfulness 
of  the  description,  the  perfect  rendering  of  the  selec- 
tion read,  the  correct  proportioning  of  causes  and  ef- 
fects in  a  geographical  exercise,  or  right  influences  in 
historical  studies,  but  in  the  effort  to  find  the  truth  and 
to  utter  it  fairly. 

Among  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  accuracy  is  of 
late  birth.  And  yet  no  system  of  procedure  is  good, 
is  safe,  that  does  not  provide  for  and  secure  such 
accuracy  as  the  accumulated  experience  warrants. 
The  accuracy  of  the  adult  must  not  be  expected  of 
the  child,  any  more  than  the  accuracy  of  the  child 
would  be  accepted  as  an  adult  standard.  That,  at  every 
stage  of  the  child's  growth,  he  shall  be  held  responsible 
for  all  the  definiteness  of  discrimination,  and  clear- 
ness of  imagery,  and  reliability  of  judgments,  and  per- 
fection of  memory,  which  his  attainments  and  matu- 
rity justify,  and  no  more,  is  a  fundamental  principle  in 
sound  pedagogy. 

Just  as  it  would  be  obviously  unfair  to  estimate 
the  pupil's  accuracy  of  thinking  in  terms  of  the 
teacher's  exactitude,  so  it  is  unfair  to  measure  one  child 


324  Science  of  Education 

by  the  standard  of  another  child's  precision.  That 
is,  it  is  more  important  that  each  one  perform  his  task 
as  well  as  he  can  than  that  he  be  rated  high  or  low,  ac- 
cording to  some  arbitrary  or  inferior  or  superior  stand- 
ard. The  standard  for  each  one  is  the  best  he  is  able 
to  accept  for  his  ideal.  Each  day,  or  month,  or  year 
should  raise  his  ideal,  and  carry  him  beyond  his  former 
ideals  in  accuracy,  not  less  than  in  quantity  of  experi- 
ence. Growth  of  mind  implies  an  increasing  definite- 
ness  of  the  mental  processes. 

Much  of  the  improvement  noted  in  the  four  preced- 
ing paragraphs,  it  has  doubtless  already  been  inferred, 
is  because  of  the  growing  control  which  has  been  exer- 
cised over  the  mental  acts.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  fruitful  changes  in  the  intellectual  life  is 
this  of  more  constant  and  efficient  regulation  of  the  sev- 
eral activities.  Child  life  is  peculiarly  volatile,  inarticu- 
late and  transient.  It  is  concerned  with  the  moment, 
and  changes  with  the  moment.  Connectedness  of  think- 
ing, the  purposed  persistence  of  interests,  the  holding 
over  of  plans  and  following  them  up  for  successive 
days,  inhibitions  of  passion  and  temper,  directed  and 
orderly  observation  and  research,  doing  self-appointed 
tasks  and  holding  to  the  purpose,  are  all  helpful  in  the 
cultivation  of  a  habit  of  controlling  one's  activities. 
These  all  come  slowly.  The  child's  judgments  are  at 
first  spontaneous  and  unthinking.  So  is  the  action  of 
the  memory.  Children  remember  surprisingly  well. 
Almost  no  child  recollects.  Many  pupils  of  six  to  eight 
years  of  age  will,  upon  a  slender  suggestion  even,  re- 


The  Growth  of  Intelligence  325 

member  and  relate  incidents  or  whole  exercises  of  the 
day,  or  of  days,  before;  but  few  of  them  will  be  able 
voluntarily  to  recall  even  the  most  striking  occurrences, 
though  only  a  few  hours  away.  They  remember,  but 
do  not  recall.  They  have  startlingly  clear  insights,  but 
few  reasoned  judgments. 

Growth  implies  an  increasing  control  of  all  the 
processes  of  the  mind;  there  must  come  observation 
instead  of  mere  seeing ;  association  by  thought  relations, 
not  merely  of  nearness  in  time  and  place ;  a  grip  upon 
experience  that  makes  reproduction  to  be  something 
more  than  reminiscence;  reasoned  conclusions,  not 
insights  only;  the  mastery  of  the  feelings,  not  subjec- 
tion to  them.  The  approach  to  this  regulated  life,  it 
need  scarcely  be  said,  is  a  journey  of  slow  stages,  a 
matter  of  years ;  indeed,  one  accomplished  by  few,  and 
by  many  barely  undertaken,  and  too  often  soon  aban- 
doned. But  it  is  the  ideal ;  and  little  growth  can  occur 
in  any  of  the  other  ways,  if  this  fail.  Growth  of  mind 
implies  an  increasing  power  and  habit  of  control  of  its 
ways. 

Finally,  in  this  natural  history  of  mind  there  is  a 
well-defined  tendency  toward  the  integration  of  its  ex- 
periences. All  revivability  is  by  means  of  threads,  or 
groups,  or  clusters  of  experiences ;  not  of  isolated  ideas 
or  impressions.  One  form  of  this  tendency  appears  in 
what  is  known  as  association — the  binding  together  of 
experiences  according  to  certain  laws.  So  surely  is  this 
integration  regarded  as  fundamental,  that  it  has  been 
said :  "  If  not  thought  with  each  other,  things  are  not 


326  Science  of  Education 

thought  at  all."  For  one  reason  or  another,  because  of 
one  principle  or  another,  detached  experiences,  each 
a  strand  or  series  of  reactions,  are  found  to  be  worked 
into  a  fabric  or  body  of  experience.  "  The  weaving 
together  of  the  elements  of  experience,"  says  Mr. 
Sully  *  "  (which  is  necessary  to  the  very  idea  of  ex- 
perience as  a  system  of  connected  parts),  begins  from 
the  earliest  moment,  and  runs  on  pari  passu  with  the 
other  processes "  (discrimination  and  assimilation). 
"  Not  only  all  our  intellectual  pleasures  and  pains," 
says  Dr.  Priestley,  "  but  all  the  phenomena  of  memory, 
imagination,  volition,  reasoning,  and  every  other 
mental  affection  and  operation,  are  but  different  modes 
or  cases  of  the  association  of  ideas." 

It  was  the  conception  of  Hume  that  the  "  laws  of 
association  fill  a  place  in  the  world  of  mind  similar 
to  the  universal  law  of  gravitation  in  the  physical 
world."  Now  things  are  associated  in  thought  through 
likeness  or  difference,  through  contiguity,  through 
coexistence,  through  relations  of  whole  and  part, 
cause  and  effect,  means  and  end,  signs  and  things 
signified,  work  and  worker,  force  and  phenomena, 
thing  and  quality,  container  and  content,  etc.  All 
of  these  Professor  James  would  reduce  to  the  one 
relation  of  succession ;  that  "  there  is  no  other  ele- 
mentary causal  law  of  association  than  the  law  of 
neural  habit  All  the  materials  of  our  thought  are  due 
to  the  way  in  which  one  elementary  process  of  the  cer- 
ebral hemispheres  tends  to  excite  whatever  other  ele- 
*  "  The  Human  Mind,"  i,  p.  185. 


The  Growth  of  Intelligence          327 

mentary  process  it  may  have  excited  at  some  former 
time." 

It  is  not  meant  here  to  consider  or  argue  how 
this  integration  takes  place,  but  to  set  forth  the  fact 
as  marking  one  form  of  intellectual  growth.  In  child- 
hood, and  well  along  into  youth,  and  for  some  persons 
always,  the  cohesion  of  experiences  is  weak,  and  inade- 
quate for  any  except  the  simplest  revivals.  Interests 
are  fickle  and  easily  evaporate,  connections  unstable, 
and  reproduction  uncertain.  But  with  real  mental 
growth  there  comes  a  certain  solidarity  of  mind  that 
stands  for  manifold  and  definite  associations.  The 
mind  acts  as  a  whole  and  as  a  constantly  changing 
whole.  Each  new  day's  experiences  have  somehow 
combined  with  all  former  experiences  to  constitute  a 
new  whole  of  reaction. 

"  Every  thought  we  have  of  a  given  fact  is," 
says  Professor  James,*  "  strictly  speaking,  unique, 
and  only  bears  a  resemblance  of  kind  with  our 
other  thoughts  of  the  same  fact.  When  the  identi- 
cal fact  recurs,  we  must  think  of  it  in  a  fresh  manner, 
see  it  under  a  somewhat  different  angle,  apprehend  it 
in  different  relations  from  those  in  which  it  last  ap- 
peared. .  .  .  Often  we  are  ourselves  struck  at  the 
strange  differences  in  our  successive  views  of  the  same 
thing.  We  wonder  how  we  could  have  opined  as  we  did 
last  month  about  a  certain  matter.  We  have  outgrown 
the  possibility  of  that  state  of  mind,  we  know  not  how. 
From  one  year  to  another  we  see  tilings  in  new  lights. 
*  "  Psychology,"  i,  p.  233. 


328  Science  of  Education 

What  was  unreal  has  grown  real ;  what  was  exciting  is 
now  insipid.  .  .  .  Experience  is  remoulding  us  every 
moment,  and  our  mental  reaction  on  every  given  thing 
is  really  a  resultant  of  our  experience  of  the  whole 
world  up  to  date."  This  is  mental  integrity.  The  re- 
action of  the  mind  is  the  reaction  of  the  whole  mind. 

i 

There  is  implied  not  only  co-operation  among  the  par- 
ticular experiences,  but  effective  co-operation  among 
the  three  functions. 

In  all  educational  progress  there  is  implied  an 
increasing  solidarity  of  mind,  or  an  integrity  of 
the  mind's  experiences  and  reactions;  an  habitual 
concert  of  effort,  and  mutual  consistency  of  effect. 
There  are  no  "  branch "  functions  and  divided  in- 
terests. All  experiences  are  under  one  management 
They  begin  to  work  as  a  unit,  not  as  a  house  divided 
against  itself;  a  phalanx  of  forces  operating  under  a 
like  incentive  and  having  a  common  purpose.  It  is  an 
ideal  situation,  but  an  ideal  which  is  vitalizing  to  in- 
struction. It  is  a  tendency  of  the  mind  that  is  not  to  be 
artificially  bestowed  upon  it,  but  a  native  one  to  be 
encouraged;  a  disposition — an  active  disposition — of 
the  several  functions  to  act  as  one,  and  of  experiences 
to  fuse,  and  of  interests  to  coalesce.  The  connecting 
and  grouping  of  exercises  in  such  way  as  to  strengthen 
and  reinforce  this  tendency  is  the  part  of  wisdom. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
ETHICAL  RELATIONS 

THE  Science  of  Education  derives  yet  other  material 
from  Ethics  or  the  Science  of  Social  Rights. 

It  has  been  noted  elsewhere  *  that  one  tendency  of 
education,  whether  directed  or  incidental,  is  to  moral- 
ize the  life ;  the  ideal  being  that  one  shall  come  habitu- 
ally to  recognize  and  apply  in  one's  living  the  moral 
factor  in  experience.  For  reasons  that  will  be  obvious 
to  all,  there  is  not  included  here  a  consideration  of  the 
religious  aspect  of  morality.  That  belongs  properly  to 
another  inquiry.  Neither  is  it  the  purpose  to  elabo- 
rate or  suggest  a  system  of  ethics.  As  the  science  of 
education  assumes  a  psychology  and  takes  note  of  its 
pedagogical  bearings,  so  it  accepts  the  system  of  ethics 
as  worked  out  by  philosophy,  and  uses  so  much  of  its 
conclusions  as  is  determinative  of  educational  doc- 
trina  The  present  discussion  does  not  set  itself  to 
solve  "  that  most  difficult  of  all  problems,  how  the  claims 
of  the  Individual  and  of  Society  can  be  reconciled."  f 
-It  seeks  only  to  discover  and  to  incorporate  into  the 
science  of  education  the  principles  that  may  be  useful 

•  See  p.  227. 

f  Maurice.     "  Social  Morality,"  p.  18. 
329 


330  Science  of  Education 

for  guidance.  Along  with  the  conviction  that  ethics 
ought  to  throw  important  light  on  pedagogics,  Mr.  Mac- 
kenzie concludes  *  that  "  the  question  as  to  what 
qualities  it  is  most  desirable  to  evoke  and  strengthen 
must  obviously  depend  on  our  view  of  the  qualities 
which  good  citizens  ought  to  possess,  and  generally  on 
our  view  of  the  ethical  end."  Considered  in  a  descrip- 
tive and  approximate  rather  than  a  critical  way,  the 
nature  of  the  ethical  principle  comprises : 

The  manners  and  customs  of  a  society  giving  rise 
to  forms  of  etiquette,  and  the  conventional  orders 
of  intercourse.  The  term  "  ethics "  is  derived  from 
the  Greek  word  meaning,  primarily,  character;  but  in 
its  etymology  connotes  also  custom  or  habit,  just  as 
the  Latin  mores,  from  which  we  get  our  word  moral- 
ity, means  customs,  habits  or  manners.  And  the  sci- 
ence so  named  is  concerned  to  discover  and  to  set  forth 
the  rules  and  principles  on  which  men  habitually  act 
in  their  congregate  relations,  and  "  the  Tightness  or 
wrongness  of  these  principles."  These  assume  the  form 
of  more  or  less  established  "  codes,"  such  as  rules  of 
courtesy;  caste  and  class  relations;  forms  of  respect; 
the  behavior  of  inferiors,  children  and  other  depend- 
ents; the  etiquette  of  courts  and  diplomacy;  codes  of 
honor,  etc.  About  those  who  have  a  sense  of  nicety  of 
behavior,  these  conventional  rules,  operating  in  a  mixed 
society,  throw  an  efficient  and  delicate  protection 
against  boorishness  and  over-reaching;  and  "  it  is  often, 
perhaps,  well  that  the  impulses  of  a  man's  own  heart 
*  "  Manual  of  Ethics,"  p.  29. 


Ethical  Relations  331 

should  be  checked  by  certain  generally  understood  con- 
ventions." Such  prohibitions  sometimes  afford  security 
to  decency  and  privacy  that  is  most  enjoyable.  Tech- 
nically, they  mean  consideration  for  others,  if  not  al- 
ways respect,  and  not  infrequently  a  respect  conse- 
quent upon  consideration,  and  stand  for  social  adjust- 
ment and  cooperation.  Most  of  them  have  or  have  had 
in  their  origin  a  purpose  to  subserve  some  common 
good.  Often  carried  to  an  excess  of  formalism,  as  a 
body  they  yet  represent  an  ideal  of  behavior  toward 
which  one  phase  of  ethical  culture  points. 

Legislation  also  gives  form  and  direction  to  the  re- 
lations called  civic,  as  governmental  administration, 
sets  and  interprets  standards  of  political  relations. 
Here  arise  notions  of  personal  rights  and  property 
rights,  and  tax  responsibilities,  and  debts,  and  public 
property,  and  public  service,  and  corporate  functions, 
and  contracts,  and  property  transfers;  of  civic  justice, 
and  crimes  and  punishment;  and  official  codes  of  au- 
thority and  privilege,  and  official  responsibility,  and  cit- 
izen sovereignty  and  privilege,  etc.  Statutes  and  or- 
dinances, in  undertaking  to  say  what  citizens  may  and 
may  not  do,  as  members  of  a  civil  community,  set 
standards  by  which  many  presume  to  judge  what  is 
right  and  not  right.  In  his  own  life,  touching  many 
matters,  the  individual  easily  conies  to  accept  as  right 
what  the  law  prescribes  or  allows,  and  condemns  what 
the  law  prohibits  or  what  he  cannot  evade.  Citizen- 
ship comes  to  mean  what  the  practice  of  the  government 
crystallizes  in  its  doings. 


332  Science  of  Education 

The  laws  are  an  expression  of  public  sentiment 
in  most  Western,  i.e.,  European  and  American,  even 
monarchic  societies;  not  an  expression  of  the  high- 
est intelligence  or  most  orderly,  nor  of  the  lowest, 
but  of  an  upper  large  majority  of  all.  And  it 
would  seem  to  be  the  function  of  all  legislation,  as  it 
is  its  history,  so  to  enact  its  various  codes  that  to-mor- 
row they  will  not  be  needed.  The  many  would  live  up 
to  the  spirit  of  most  laws,  even  without  prohibitions; 
the  few  grow  up  to  enacted  standards  that  were  once 
beyond  their  practice.  Both  the  laws  made  and  the 
laws  enforced,  as  well  as  the  manner  of  their  enforce- 
ment, become  a  means  of  education  in  a  most  effective 
way.  Legislatures  and  courts  and  executives  of  every 
grade  are  teachers,  whose  tuition  never  ceases.  The 
school  term  is  twelve  months  in  the  year.  It  reaches 
the  home  and  the  office,  the  street  and  farm,  society 
and  the  sanctuary,  old  and  young,  both  sexes  and  all 
races,  every  industry  and  philosophy  and  policy.  Ad- 
justment of  conduct  to  their  requirements  is  the  main 
part  of  civic  life.  The  increasingly  better  adjustment  is 
civic  education.  That  the  adjustment  is  such  as  to  call 
for  less,  and  again  less,  severe  laws  implies  that  the 
civic  growth  is  in  the  line  of  education — real  gain  in 
self-directiveness,  not  mere  training.  So  the  civic 
order  itself,  combining  with  the  school,  becomes  a 
means  of  raising  the  level  of  citizenship  through  its  re- 
actions upon  the  individual. 

The  ethical  principle  includes  also  in  its  purview 
the  system  of  organized  industry,  and  the  attendant 


Ethical  Relations  333 

trade  relations,  involving  the  responsibilities  and  priv- 
ileges of  employer  and  employed;  the  individual  and 
his  guild ;  wages  and  the  conditions  of  labor ;  contracts 
and  tenure  of  employment;  industrial  habits;  the  mu- 
tual fidelity  of  the  workman  and  his  employer;  all  of 
which,  through  wide-spread  organization,  have  become 
very  complicated,  and  their  influence  upon  the  individ- 
ual far-reaching.  Upon  many  points  the  several  in- 
dustrial bodies  undertake  to  speak  for  their  members. 
Standards  of  conduct  in  trade  relations  are  prescribed. 
Some  of  them  have  elaborate  codes  of  directions  and 
prohibitions.  The  organization  comes  to  be  an  active 
means  of  education,  both  to  members  and  employers. 
The  distribution  of  trade  and  technical  literature,  society 
news  publications,  and  the  public  discussion  of  class 
interests,  greatly  encourage  the  influence.  Here,  again, 
for  the  members  as  a  body,  and  for  individuals,  in  labor 
relations,  right  is  taken  to  be,  at  its  best  estate,  what 
the  law  requires,  or,  perhaps,  what  it  allows;  or  even 
what  may  be  wrested  from  it  and  from  the  employer, 
in  the  interest  of  the  members.  Conversely,  for  the 
employer,  and  in  a  measure  for  the  capitalistic  class, 
touching  these  same  trade  relations,  right  too  often 
comes  to  be  what  the  law  permits  or  does  not  expressly 
prohibit,  or  what  may  be  won  by  contest. 

On  both  sides  there  has  grown  up,  between  the  two,  and 
among  themselves,  a  by  no  means  simple  code,  obedience 
to  which  is  insisted  upon.  The  requirement  is  not  as  be- 
tween man  and  man,  but  concerns  them  as  artisans,  and 
as  factors  of  an  industrial  machine.  But  even  with- 


334  Science  of  Education 

out  this  voluntary  organization  of  operatives  into  so- 
cieties, and  employers  into  leagues,  the  industrial  code 
fixes  similar  relations  for  all  who  toil,  and  for  all  who 
are  interested  in  its  returns.  The  conventions  of  labor 
must  be  learned  and  practised,  otherwise  one  becomes 
outcast.  They  are  quite  as  exacting  as  are  other  codes, 
and  generally  have  a  wholesome  influence. 

Then  there  are  the  formal  institutions  and  the  sev- 
eral agencies  of  learning,  with  the  accompanying  pro- 
fessional relations.  Besides  the  instructional  and  stu- 
dent relations,  the  society  of  a  school  or  college  is  unique 
and  more  or  less  stratified.  Fraternities,  associations, 
moral,  athletic,  publishing  and  other  interests;  under- 
graduate and  graduate  classes ;  the  different  "  schools  " 
or  departments;  new-comers  and  upper  class-men;  the 
two  sexes;  social  functions  and  the  common  life,  mul- 
tiply conventional  restraints  and  complicate  the  social 
order.  Both  among  themselves  and  with  one  another, 
the  various  academic  groups  have  their  codes  and  com- 
pacts, their  limitations  of  privilege  and  enforcement  of 
duties;  and  the  society,  as  a  whole,  so  democratic,  is 
broken  into  groups  and  more  or  less  exclusive  organiza- 
tions, with  differing  functions  and  appropriate  rules. 

Next  to  the  formal  tuition  of  the  lecture  room,  this 
social  intercourse,  after  formal  procedure,  is  the  great 
educational  factor  in  college  life.  It  gives  a  certain 
breadth  of  view  as  to  social  responsibilities,  tempers 
the  self-assumptions  of  youth,  facilitates  knowledge  ex- 
change, and  stimulates  the  feeling  of  considerateness. 
What  is  true  of  a  college  comniunity  is  more  or  less 


Ethical  Relations  335 

true  of  every  community  that  has  a  distinct  life  chiefly 
among  its  membership — as  a  secluded  village,  a  fron- 
tier settlement,  a  farming  community,  etc.  Partly  be- 
cause of  their  origin  in  the  schools,  and  partly  because 
of  the  technical  character  of  their  services,  the  three 
traditional  professions  have  developed  their  respective 
codes  also — as  the  medical  code  of  ethics,  the  clerical 
code  of  ethics,  and  the  attorney's  code — the  other  occu- 
pations showing  similar  conventions,  as  the  ethical  code 
of  business,  codes  of  railway  and  other  travel;  all  of 
which  are  simply  modes  of  adjusting  otherwise  con- 
flicting claims  of  the  individual  and  the  group.  These 
may  be  "  minor  morals,"  as  they  have  been  named,  but 
they  are  moral  both  in  constitution  and  effect ;  and  obe- 
dience to  them  is  the  beginning  of  a  rich  ethical  life,  that 
increases  both  happiness  and  efficiency. 

Summarizing,  then:  comprised  in  the  ethical  princi- 
ple there  are  forms  of  politeness  and  gentility,  systems 
of  civic  and  political  duties,  industrial,  sodality,  med- 
ical, clerical,  and  judicial  codes.  And  these  codes  are 
society's  covenants  of  protection  among  its  members. 
Certain  of  their  requirements  may  seem  artificial,  some 
puerile,  some  tyrannous,  others  needless;  but  on  the 
whole,  they  are  vastly  important,  and  the  influence  sal- 
utary. They  furnish  a  standard  of  conduct  that  is  an 
ideal  to  many,  a  protection  to  others,  obstructive  to  few. 
On  the  negative  side,  the  codes  afford  formal  justifica- 
tion for  all  acts  not  expressly  forbidden  by  them. 
Speaking  pedagogically,  the  function  of  the  school  is  to 
fit  the  individual  for  intelligent  service  in  the  several 


336  Science  of  Education 

institutions  named,  under  these  codes;  that  the  life  of 
each  may  be  strengthened  and  perfected  by  this  cooper- 
ation with  all,  through  these  and  similar  conventions.  ' 

The  ethical  principle  means  then,  in  general,  to  do 
good,  not  to  do  evil;  to  do  the  fit,  the  suitable  thing, 
according  to  one's  highest  sense  of  the  right  and  suit- 
able; to  treat  others  as  they  should  be  treated,  if  we 
were  those  others.  Confucius  (born  551  B.  c.)  said: 
"  What  you  do  not  like  when  done  to  yourself,  do  not 
do  to  others  " ;  and  the  liberal,  scholarly,  wise  Hillel 
(dying  10  A.  D.),  known  as  Hillel  the  Great,  had  said 
in  early  manhood,  and  fifty  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  practically  the  same  thing.  He  maintained  that 
the  object  of  the  law  is  peace  and  good-will ;  therefore, 
the  principal  law  is,  "  Whatever  would  hurt  thee,  thou 
shalt  do  to  none,"  and  added  thereto  the  most  expressive 
words,  "  this  is  the  principal ;  the  rest  (of  the  law)  is 
its  commentary ;  go  and  finish." 

But  both  of  these  were  negative,  as  most  early  max- 
ims for  both  the  race  and  the  individual  are  negative. 
The  jSTazarene's  counsel  was  positive  and  comprehen- 
sive of  social  obligations,  not  avoidance  of  selfishness 
only :  "  All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them :  for  this  is  the  law  and 
the  prophets."  Here  was  a  new  spirit;  though  it  ap- 
pears from  the  words  of  Jesus  Himself  that  it  was  a 
development  of  a  former  teaching  of  the  schools,  as  the 
race's  later  altruism  has  come  by  gradual  evolution  from 

*  See   "  History   of  the   Hebrews'  Second  Commonwealth/'  L  M. 
Wise,  p.  217. 


Ethical  Relations  337 

an  early  eye-for-an-eye  conception ;  or  as  the  selfishness 
of  youth  grows  into  the  considerateness  of  age. 

The  most  common  and  commonly  accepted  philosoph- 
ical statement  of  this  same  maxim  is  the  famous  "  cate- 
gorical imperative  "  of  Kant :  "  Act  so  that  the  maxim 
of  thy  conduct  shall  be  fit  to  be  the  universal  law  " ;  or, 
as  it  is  elsewhere  given,  "  Act  only  on  that  maxim  (or 
principle)  which  thou  canst  at  the  same  time  will  to 
become  universal  law."  *  And  Herbert  Spencer  also, 
about  1850,  in  an  attempt  to  state  fairly  "  the  liberty 
of  each  as  limited  only  by  the  like  liberties  of  all,"  con- 
cludes f  with  much  the  same  meaning,  that  "  every 
man  is  free  to  do  that  which  he  wills,  provided  he  in- 
fringes not  the  equal  freedom  of  any  other  man."  \ 

So  fundamental  does  this  conception  seem  in  any  mo- 
bile community  life,  that  one  might  well  have  been  sur- 
prised had  not  the  great  moralists  and  the  religious 
and  ethical  teachers  of  the  world  given  it  formulation. 
And  whether  it  emanate  from  China  or  Jewry  or  Jesus, 
what  can  it  matter  ?  The  dictum  finds  its  truth  in  the 
human  constitution,  not  in  the  words  uttered.  It  is  valid 
because  it  meets  a  need,  up  to  which,  as  toward  an  ideal, 
the  race  has  been  slowly  growing.  The  maxim  may  be 
very  simply  stated,  is  interpretable  by  all  grades  of  intel- 
ligence, and  is  applicable  to  the  various  ethical  relations. 
There  is  "  a  growing  conception  of  the  mutual  influence 

*  "  Metaphysics  of  Morals,"  Section  II. 
f  "  Principles  of  Ethics,"  ii,  p.  46. 

J  For  a  comparison  of  his  own  and  Kant's  phrasing  of  this  law  see 
Herbert  Spencer'e  "  Principles  of  Ethics,"  vol.  ii,  p.  437. 


338  Science  of  Education 

of  all  men,  and  of  all  classes  of  men ;  that  we  are  all  parts 
of  one  whole,  each  part  unavoidably  affected  by  every 
other ;  that  we  are  bound  up  in  one  bundle  of  life  with 
all  men,  and  cannot  live  an  isolated  life  if  we  would; 
.  .  .  that  we  are  made  on  so  large  a  plan  that  we 
cannot  come  to  our  best  alone ;  that  this  entering  into 
the  life  of  others  is  not  only  a  help  in  my  life,  it  is  the 
help,  the  one  means,  the  indispensable,  the  essential  con- 
dition of  all  largeness  of  life ;  it  is  the  very  meaning  of 
life— life  itself."  * 

In  the  Science  of  Social  Rights  the  relations  of  social 
classes  also  have  profound  pedagogical  significance. 
After  devoting  several  pages  to  the  nature  of  the  vir- 
tues and  to  characterizing  them  as  relative  only,  to 
commandments  and  various  states  of  society,  Mr.  Mac- 
kenzie adds :  f  "  Not  only,  however,  are  the  virtues  rel- 
ative to  different  times  and  different  social  conditions ; 
they  are  also  relative  to  the  functions  that  different  in- 
dividuals have  to  fulfil  in  society.  .  .  .  It  is  on  the 
whole  true  that  the  virtues  which  we  respect  and  ad- 
mire in  a  man  are  not  quite  the  same  as  those  of  a 
woman;  that  those  of  the  rich  are  not  quite  the  same 
as  those  of  the  poor;  that  those  of  an  old  man  are  not 
quite  the  same  as  those  of  a  young  man ;  those  of  a  par- 
ent not  quite  the  same  as  those  of  a  child;  those  of  a 
man  in  health  not  quite  the  same  as  those  of  one  who 
is  sick;  those  of  a  commercial  man  not  quite  the  same 
as  those  of  a  man  of  science." 

*King.     "  Theology  and  the  Social  Consciousness,"  pp.  13,  14. 
f  "  Manual  of  Ethics,-"'  p.  216. 


Ethical  Relations  339 

For  most  or  perhaps  all  of  these  groups  one  may 
accept  the  discriminations  made.  There  are,  how- 
ever, other  lines  of  social  cleavage  which,  in  this 
country  at  least,  seem  important  from  the  point  of 
view  of  education,  and  which  are  omitted  from  the 
list  Some  such  are  the  law-abiding  and  the  way- 
ward (not  necessarily  criminal)  classes,  whose  inter- 
ests— differing  interests — must  enter  into  every  count 
in  a  representative  society  like  ours;  the  normally 
constituted  and  the  defective  classes,  the  deaf-mutes, 
the  blind,  the  feeble  of  mind,  the  inipotents  and 
vagrants,  the  relatively  dependent,  and,  in  some  cases, 
a  parasitic,  unproductive  class;  the  educated  and  the 
wholly  or  substantially  illiterate,  which  is  a  very  differ- 
ent grouping  for  the  United  States,  from  the  tradesman 
and  scientist  noted  in  the  quotation ;  the  employed  and 
the  leisure,  which  will  be  recognized  as  different  from 
the  productive  and  unproductive  classes  mentioned 
above ;  official  and  private  citizen ;  and  the  ecclesiastic 
and  layman.  To  the  last  might  be  added,  perhaps,  the 
teacher  also  and  the  layman. 

The  difference  between  the  two  groups  of  a  pair 
vary  greatly  in  the  dozen  pairs  named.  But,  in 
general,  the  author's  distinction  holds  good,  that  the 
common  social  codes  bear  differently  upon  the  dif- 
ferent groups.  In  the  way  of  social  cooperation, 
and  refinement,  and  intelligence,  and  public  responsi- 
bility, and  civic  service  and  energy,  society  does  ex- 
pect more  from  some  than  from  others.  This  is  not 
a  recognition  of  nor  an  argument  for  any  artificial 


340  Science  of  Education 

stratification  of  society,  based  upon  supposed  inequali- 
ties of  merit,  but  a  simple  presentation  of  the  fact 
that,  in  the  massing  of  population,  the  different  social 
conditions  arising  impose  unlike  responsibilities  and 
grant  unlike  privileges  that  show  a  reasonable  corre- 
spondence. 

Individuals  often  blunder  in  their  treatment  of 
other  individuals,  now  disregarding,  now  exalting, 
because  of  some  social  badge  or  distinction;  but 
society  as  a  whole  does  not.  And  if  the  religious  or 
secular  teacher,  or  the  savant,  or  the  parent,  or  the  law- 
abiding,  or  man  of  learning,  finds  public  expectation 
of  his  behavior  exacting,  there  is  probably  some  rea- 
son in  the  existing  social  order  to  justify  it.  In  most 
nations  of  Western  civilization  the  prevailing  cleavages 
are  the  product  of  generations  of  slow  evolution.  They 
have  as  little  of  the  character  of  the  manufactured 
article  as  have  any  social  conditions. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
ETHICAL  RELATIONS   (Continued) 

THE  pedagogical  relations  of  the  classes  named  in 
the  last  chapter  are  fixed  in  the  essential  nature  of  edu- 
cation. 

Primarily  (keeping  in  mind  the  distinction  between 
education  and  schooling),  the  process  of  education  is 
the  same  for  all  classes.  The  orders  of  growth,  the  se- 
quence of  steps,  the  kinds  of  stimuli,  the  beginnings 
of  experience  in  sense  products,  the  conditions  of  right 
thinking  and  feeling  and  knowing,  the  dependence  upon 
personal  effort,  must  be  the  same  for  both  sexes  and 
all  ages,  for  the  rich  and  poor,  for  worker  and  para- 
site, for  the  normal  and  the  defective  (excepting  in 
sense  conditions),  for  the  law-abiding  and  the  wayward. 
Both  philosophically  and  as  bearing  upon  school  ad- 
ministration the  acceptance  of  this  fact  is  important. 

Because  a  natural  process,  all  education  is  equally 
(of  right)  the  privilege  of  all,  i.e.,  each  is  entitled  to 
such  encouragement  to  improvement  as  he  is  fitted  to 
receive,  to  make  him  the  best  possible  citizen  of  his 
generation,  stimulating  him  to  his  best  effort,  and  hold- 
ing before  him  the  most  available  high  ideals  of  right 
living.  Neither  the  means  nor  the  scope  of  training 

841 


342  Science  of  Education 

will  be  the  same  necessarily  for  the  two  groups  of  any 
pair — for  the  two  sexes,  for  the  tradesman  and  the  pro- 
fessional, for  the  undeveloped  races  and  the  highly 
civilized,  for  the  feeble  of  mind  and  the  strong,  for 
adults  and  minors.  But  the  right  of  each  to  the  best 
that  he  can  become  is,  from  the  nature  of  the  ethical 
principle,  a  valid  contention.  No  class  that  is  "  down  " 
may  safely  be  kept  down  if  there  be  the  instinct  to  rise. 

In  a  society,  further,  of  free  intellectual  and  indus- 
trial activity  the  tendency  of  this  natural  process,  if  it 
be  conceded  a  share  in  wise  direction,  is  to  obliterate, 
or  at  least  readjust,  class  distinctions.  Many  of  the 
feeble  of  mind  become  self -helpful  in  simple  ways; 
the  deaf-mutes  and  the  blind  become  productive  and 
self -entertaining ;  wayward  youth  that  have  come  under 
wise  treatment  have  been  reclaimed;  the  laborer, 
through  means  of  adult  instruction,  has  often  risen  to 
influence  and  breadth  of  interest;  and  laymen  have  be- 
come critical  of  religious  creeds  and  legal  codes,  and 
sanitary  requirements,  and  sound  in  conduct,  on  the 
level  of  the  priest  and  the  jurist  and  the  medical  prac- 
titioner. 

No  conception  of  modern  pedagogy  is  truer  to 
fact  or  safer  in  principle  than  this,  that  the  vital 
function  of  public  schooling  is  to  raise  the  level  of  so- 
ciety in  conduct  and  ideals.  This  is  done,  primarily, 
by  improving  the  individual  and  for  his  individual 
need;  but  for  the  common  good  also,  the  incompetent 
are  to  be  made  competent;  the  ignorant,  intelligent; 
the  plodder,  skilful;  the  spendthrift,  prudent;  the 


Ethical  Relations  343 

wayward,  law-abiding;  the  rude  and  selfish,  consider- 
ate. A  society  is  not  to  be  considered  strong,  there- 
fore, simply  because  there  are  in  it  no  social  classes, 
but  because  all  classes  are  rising.  The  school,  also, 
should  reach  every  grade  of  efficiency  and  intelligence 
and  morals  to  the  end  that,  the  old  lines  of  distinction 
being  broken,  there  may  be  attained  the  mobility  that 
brings  hope  and  content,  a  moving  equilibrium  that 
means  life  and  vigor.  In  his  own  interest  certainly, 
each  is  to  be  given  a  chance — the  school's  chance — to 
make  the  most  of  himself ;  but  in  the  interest  of  society, 
and  with  all  of  its  foresight  and  resources  for  wise  di- 
rection, ability  must  be  sought  in  every  social  class  and 
brought  to  the  surface  to  have  the  chance,  too,  which 
ability  may  claim,  that  society  at  large  may  not  fail 
of  any  exceptional  service.  Neither  birth  nor  breeding, 
nor  early  connections,  nor  social  antecedents  should 
stand  in  the  way  of  any  helpful  redistribution  of  effi- 
ciency— certainly  not  the  conventional  class  distinc- 
tions named.  Of  all  the  regenerative  means  at  the  call 
of  society,  education  is  the  most  efficient,  inasmuch  as 
it  tends  to  break  up  the  ruts  of  caste  and  hopeless  in- 
difference ;  to  meet  the  "  call  of  the  wild." 

Among  the  several  social  classes  also  influences  are 
mutual  though  not  equal,  hence  a  state  of  society  that 
is  bad  for  any  considerable  class  is  bad  for  all  classes; 
and,  equally,  the  education  that  really  benefits  one  class 
is  a  common  good.  An  ignorant,  irresponsible  serving 
class  obstructs  progress  and  makes  labor  wasteful; 
scheming  political  leaders  increase  the  purchasable 


344  Science  of  Education 

vote;  neglect  of  public  morals  undermines  common 
peace  and  safety;  oppression  of  the  farm  impoverishes 
the  city;  inadequate  transportation  discourages  produc- 
tion and  cheapens  comforts :  so  an  education  of  the  pew 
is  a  stimulus  to  the  pulpit ;  self-respecting  labor  means 
civic  progress  and  manifold  comforts;  the  gift  of  self- 
help  to  the  needy  confers  moral  worth  upon  both  those 
who  give  and  those  who  receive ;  the  exalting  of  woman- 
hood has  greatly  improved  the  qualities  of  manhood ; 
the  reforms  of  Five  Points  and  the  slums  make  all  life 
safer  and  health  surer ;  the  city,  first  to  profit  from  in- 
vention, soon  reflects  its  sense  of  comfort  and  leisure 
upon  the  hamlet  and  the  frontier;  a  wise,  impeccable 
ruling  class  would  do  much  to  allay  unrest  and  dis- 
courage civic  crookedness. 

Society  is  a  whole,  and,  however  we  may  try  to 
persuade  ourselves,  acts  as  a  whole;  it  is  a  consti- 
tutional aggregate,  all  of  whose  parts  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  any  attempt  to  improve  or  admin- 
ister its  functions.  Its  best  and  its  worst  elements 
do  not  act  independently,  though  they  may  be  hos- 
tile. In  the  expediencies  of  public  affairs  the  stand 
taken  by  either  is  fixed  for  it  by  that  of  the  other.  In 
a  large  measure  each  party  is  what  it  is  because  others 
are  what  they  are,  and  not  one  set  of  "  others  "  alone, 
but  many  groups  at  times  who  are  otherwise  minded. 
"  A  vote  of  all  the  people,"  .  .  .  says  Judge  Biddle,* 
"  reflects  all  the  knowledge,  judgment,  skill,  courage, 
tastes,  interests,  wants,  passions,  hopes  and  fears  of  a 

*  "  Elements  of  Knowledge,"  p.  125. 


Ethical  Relations  345 

nation,  and  this  is  the  only  source  from  which  rulers 
can  ascertain  what  they  have  to  deal  with.  A  vote  of  all 
the  wisest  and  best,  if  they  could  be  ascertained,  would 
be  an  unsafe  guide,  for  it  would  leave  the  most  danger- 
ous element  of  government  concealed.  A  vote  solely 
of  all  the  property  holders,  or  of  the  moral,  or  of  the 
religious,  or  of  any  other  class  would  be  just  as  defective 
and  an  unsafe  guide  for  the  ruler.  No  one  class  of 
men  can  represent  another  class,  much  less  can  they 
represent  a  nation."  The  education  that  benefits  one 
class  must  be  accorded  to  individuals  of  whatever  other 
class  capable  of  receiving  and  using  it.  Reform  is  to 
be  had,  not  by  ignoring  a  disturbing  class,  but  by  im- 
proving it.  Capacity  only  (not  class  connections) 
should  bar  one  from  its  privileges. 

Among  all  social  classes  children  and  youth  are  most 
directly  concerned  in  the  educational  movement.  Their 
presence  in  a  community  conditions  institutional  life  in 
various  ways.  The  birth-rate  in  conjunction  with  the 
death-rate  is  an  index  to  the  prosperity  of  a  people. 
Their  presence  in  a  family  changes  a  mere  home  to  a 
working  household.  They  constitute  an  element  in  the 
motive  for  accumulating  property.  In  all  congested 
populations  they  are  a  constant  and  more  or  less  dis- 
turbing factor  in  industry,  and,  incidentally,  in  legis- 
lation upon  child  labor  and  factory  conditions.  They 
are  a  chief  concern  of  the  church.  The  modern  school, 
not  excluding  college,  is  wholly  in  their  interest.  The 
movement  for  compulsory  school  attendance  is  incident 
to  this  need.  Reformatories,  homes  and  industrial  in- 


346  Science  of  Education 

stitutions  are  correctional  of  their  waywardness.  The 
statute-books  are  filled  with  enactments  that  concern 
them.  Laws  upon  minors,  guardianship,  the  descent  of 
property,  parental  responsibility,  and  especially  educa- 
tion, have  the  same  meaning. 

Out  of  probably  80,000,000  people  in  the  United 
States  there  are  about  25,000,000  children  between 
five  and  eighteen  years  of  age.  Approximately,  16,- 
000,000  children  and  youth  are  in  the  schools.  For 
their  benefit  $600,000,000  are  permanently  invested 
in  school  properties.  Nearly  $250,000,000  are  spent 
annually  to  maintain  these  schools.  About  two-thirds 
of  this  sum  come  from  State  and  local  taxes.  Di- 
rectly or  indirectly  the  influence  of  the  system  is 
upon  every  other  institution.  Upon  its  service  de- 
pends in  large  degree  the  character  of  the  coming 
civilization ;  whether  the  existing  culture  and  efficiency 
shall  be  maintained  or  raised.  At  all  times,  people 
who  have  come  to  political  or  industrial  greatness  have 
exhibited  a  public  interest  in  the  youth  of  the  genera- 
tion. Such  nation  has  not  always  been  careful  to  secure 
to  them  the  child  rights  as  members  of  the  several  social 
institutions.  Often  they  have  been  exploited  in  the 
interests  of  adult  life,  especially  among  highly  indus- 
trial and  dense  populations.  As  a  class,  being  dependent 
and  artless,  they  are  easily  submerged,  and  as  their  inter- 
est in  productive  affairs  is  projected  into  the  future,  they 
are  likely  to  be  overlooked  in  the  presence  of  seemingly 
more  urgent  interests. 

Theoretically  it  is  true,  outside  of  government  which 


Ethical  Relations  347 

concerns  present  good  order  and  equitable  relations  be- 
tween citizens,  it  is  conceded  that  human  activity  is 
chiefly  that  the  successive  generations  shall  be  well 
brought  to  adulthood ;  that  parents  toil  in  order  that  the 
future  of  the  family  may  be  provided  for;  the  church 
labors  to  win  the  young,  when  alone  they  may  be  won 
in  their  youth ;  the  family,  that,  through  them,  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  home  may  be  conserved. 

But  practically  in  the  home,  and  the  church,  and  the 
shop,  and  in  society  the  child  is  tolerated  in  various  ways 
or  forgotten.  The  furnishings  and  conveniences,  and 
customs  of  going  and  coming  in  the  home  are  all  collected 
and  enforced  with  the  elders  in  view.  In  society  the 
standards  of  conduct  and  courtesy  and  privilege  are  adult 
standards.  In  the  church  there  are  few  services  for  the 
children.  Until  very  recent  years  there  was  no  litera- 
ture for  them,  and  for  long  no  adapted  texts.  Just 
as  the  child  in  the  home  may  be  held  to  be  as  respectful 
and  courteous  to  his  own  parents  as  to  the  heads  of 
neighbor  families — not  allowing  his  presumption  of 
sympathy  to  blind  him  to  social  obligations — so  the 
mother  should  maintain  the  same  considerate  courtesy 
toward  her  own  child  that  she  shows  and  feels  toward 
a  strange  child,  not  forgetting  the  considerateness  that 
is  due  him  as  a  human  being.  If  unfairness  of  social 
treatment  is  wrong  to  my  neighbor,  it  is  wrong  to  a 
member  of  my  household.  And  the  ethical  imperative 
demands  fairness  of  speech  and  manner  and  heart 
toward  others,  all  others,  children  not  excluded,  as  one 
would  expect  it  for  himself.  Such  treatment  is  not  to 


348  Science  of  Education 

be  regarded  as  antagonistic  to  right  training  of  them 
for  manhood,  but  as  a  form  of  right  training. 

The  educational  influence  of  the  institutions  shows 
itself  primarily  upon  the  people  at  large,  but  may  be 
traced  also  upon  individuals.  It  has  already  been  sug- 
gested that  the  individual  acquires,  and  has  constant 
need  for,  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  conventional 
forms  of  language,  custom,  and  etiquette  that  are  in- 
cident to  community  and  social  life.  The  citizenship 
relations  are  other  conventionalities  that  form  an  essen- 
tial part  of  every  one's  education,  as  are  the  ways  of  the 
home  and  the  requirements  incident  to  one's  place  in 
the  household;  that  one  shall  become  conversant  with 
the  formal  requirements  and  apply  himself  to  practise 
them  in  daily  life.  He  has  need  to  acquire  also  habits 
of  self-dependence,  thrift  and  foresight,  quickness  of 
perception,  substantial  judgment.  These  the  race  has 
mainly  achieved  through  its  industries  as  similar  traits 
are  attained  to-day. 

Briefly,  and  mainly  by  way  of  illustration,  attention 
is  here  called  to  the  educational  significance  of  the  in- 
dustries. This  does  not  seem  to  have  been  accorded  the 
consideration  its  importance  would  justify.  It  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned  that  the  race  has  been  educated 
rather  by  what  it  has  done  than  by  what  it  has  known ; 
or  what  it  has  used  of  what  it  has  known ;  by  what  it 
has  come  to  know  through  an  effort  to  do.  In  any 
event,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  it  has  come  to  its 
maturity  through  its  occupation  or  active  interests.  It 
is  without  doubt  equally  true  to-day  that  men  are  so  edu- 


Ethical  Relations  349 

cated,  not  less  through  their  doing  than  by  reflection, 
though  the  occupations  and  interest  are  complex. 

There  could  be  no  more  fascinating  study  in  education 
than  an  inquiry  into  the  influences  of  present  day  eco- 
nomic and  industrial  activities  upon  man  himself,  the 
effect  upon  general  intelligence,  and  susceptibility  to  the 
higher  emotions  and  sentiments,  and  the  sense  of  civic 
responsibility,  and  the  domestic  interests,  and  estimates 
of  culture  of,  for  example,  the  railroad  service,  work  in 
the  mines,  teaching,  preaching,  years  in  the  laboratory, 
government  clerical  service,  machine  attendance  in  a 
great  factory,  the  mercantile  life,  the  active  manage- 
ment of  a  well-used  library,  etc.  One  cannot  do  these 
or  other  things  long  without  himself  being  made  over. 
In  respect  of  what  qualities  has  he  been  made  over,  and 
to  what  extent  ?  Even  to-day  it  is  evident  that  here  is 
the  chief  source  of  our  education  beyond  the  mere  rudi- 
ments of  culture.  But  for  present  purposes  illustra- 
tions will  be  taken  from  the  race's  experience,  not  from 
current  industry. 

While  nowhere  found  to  have  developed  in  a  serial 
order,  the  great  industrial  stages  through  which  man 
has  gone  from  primitive  beginnings  may  fairly  be  rep- 
resented by:  (1)  the  nut-  and  fruit-gathering  stage; 
(2)  the  hunting  and  fishing  and  predatory  life;  (3) 
the  pastoral  state,  including  the  domestication  of  wild 
animals;  (4)  the  agricultural  stage;  (5)  the  man- 
ufacturing stage  and  the  building  of  cities;  (6)  the 
commercial  age;  and  (7)  the  era  of  professional  and 
personal  service.  The  intention  is  not  to  discuss  these 


350  Science  of  Education 

various  stages ;  that  would  belong  either  to  sociology  or 
to  anthropology;  but,  assuming  more  or  less  detailed 
acquaintance  with  them,  to  ask  what  have  been  the  qual- 
ities of  mind  and  heart  which  each  has  contributed  to 
man's  education,  and  how  these  came  about? 

And  first  of  the  primitive,  simple,  and  it  may  be  hy- 
pothetical period,  called  here  the  nut-  and  fruit-gath- 
ering stage.  From  cocoanut  and  bread-fruit,  the 
grasses,  leaves  and  roots,  it  was  not  a  difficult  step  to 
the  cultivation  of  plants,  especially  the  edible  grasses, 
as  wheat,  corn,  rye  and  barley,  though  the  step  may 
have  been  a  long  one.  These  grains  are  known  to  be 
thousands  of  years  old;  their  purposed  cultivation 
transcends  history.  The  difference  to  the  man  himself 
between  taking  the  food  at  first-hand  from  nature  and 
taking  it  by  a  course  of  production  and  care  is  the  dif- 
ference between  passive,  dependent,  aimless  living  and 
purposed  activities.  It  means  watchfulness  and  some 
planning,  a  bit  of  providence,  and  doubtless  rude  tools. 
His  wants  and  his  dawning  intelligence  led  to  more 
artificial  means  of  securing  his  food.  The  invention  of 
digging-sticks,  and  flat-bladed  tools,  and  rude  hoes  and 
picks  was  the  coordinate  of  a  waxing  intelligence.  In 
his  inevitable  conflict  with  animal  enemies  he  became  a 
hunter,  and  incidentally  a  fisher. 

In  the  hunting  and  fishing  and  the  accompanying 
warlike  and  predatory  habits  there  is  found  a  more 
active,  but,  on  the  whole,  a  comparatively  sluggish  and 
irregular  life.  As  the  streams  and  shore  waters  were 
man's  "  first  avenues  for  the  movements  of  civilization. 


Ethical  Relations  351 

and  industry,"  shell-fish  and  other  water  products  may 
have  been  the  most  frequent  early  non-vegetable  food, 
even  before  land  game  came  to  be  a  prominent  food 
factor;  the  quest  required  little  skill  or  hardihood,  and 
is  even  yet  the  chief  source  of  subsistence  for  the 
Fuegian  and  a  few  other  wild  tribes.  But  essentially  it 
was  a  life  of  the  chase ;  incidentally  of  war.  Now  was 
involved,  with  but  little  display  of  striking  intelligence, 
a  good  deal  of  ingenuity  and  especially  cunning.  When, 
in  the  first  period,  man's  relation  to  the  dangerous  life 
about  him  was  chiefly  defensive,  it  became  now  offen- 
sive. The  initiative  was  often,  at  least,  with  himself, 
and  represents  a  considerably  higher  faculty. 

Of  still  lower  grade  than  the  savage,  his  effort  was  yet 
sharpened  by  an  incessant  want,  and  wrought  an  unfold- 
ing of  new  faculties  or  applied  an  old  power  in  new  ways. 
Weapons  had  to  be  made — the  spear,  the  dart,  the  bow 
and  arrow,  the  sling,  fighting  clubs,  boats,  traps,  snares, 
etc.  It  was  impossible  that  he  should  do  these  things", 
and  not  himself  be  changed  in  the  doing.  There  was 
little  individuality;  the  clan  or  tribe  or  horde  was 
everything;  life  was  more  or  less  despotic  on  the  one 
side,  and  submissive  on  the  other.  But  the  activities 
developed  patience  on  the  hunt;  endurance  through 
periods  of  hunger  and  exposure  and  danger;  courage 
and  something  of  foresight  in  a  knowledge  of  the  habits 
and  tempers  and  uses  of  the  different  animals.  In  the 
uses  of  fire  and  the  cooking  of  food  also,  and  the  pro- 
viding of  shelter,  if  nothing  more  than  a  hole  in  the 
cliff,  and  simple  clothing,  and  protection  against  the 


352  Science  of  Education 

changing  seasons,  by  covering  or  shelter  or  migration, 
practical  powers  were  cultivated  that  meant  betterment 
of  social  and  personal  conditions.  Of  sympathy,  or 
what  Mr.  Bain  calls  the  tender  emotions,  there  could 
have  been  only  a  beginning,  if  even  that.  Life  was 
exacting. 

Out  of  this  state,  doubtless  by  imperceptible  grada- 
tions, there  grew  the  pastoral  state.  It  was  still  an 
out-door  life,  as  the  earlier  stages  had  been.  But  it 
was  more  reflective  and  more  purposeful,  and,  in 
many  ways,  a  "  chosen  life,"  not  one  forced  upon  man. 
Out  with  his  flocks  and  his  herds,  the  nomad  had  some 
leisure  and  became  a  naturalist.  His  living,  however, 
was  often  quite  precarious,  and  his  food  as  uncertain  as 
was  the  hunter's.  But  the  life  was  one  of  health  and 
vigor ;  and  observation  and  keen  vision,  and  courage  in 
defense,  went  along  with  much  monotony,  and  leisure 
for  reflection  and  revery. 

The  really  great  fact,  however,  in  this  period  is 
that  of  the  domestication  of  animals.  The  entire 
list  at  present  comprises  about  twenty  distinct  ani- 
mals, not  one  of  which  is  an  addition  to  the  orig- 
inal number,  unless  the  ostrich  be  counted. '  There 
are  the  domestic  cattle,  the  Eastern  buffalo,  llama, 
goat,  sheep,  camel,  deer,  dog,  rabbit,  elephant,  swine, 
cat,  hen,  turkey,  goose,  and  pigeon,  with  perhaps  some 
modifications  of  these.  And  these  date  back  to  a  time 
beyond  which  history  gives  no  information.  In  a  prim- 
itive social  state  and  undeveloped  in  many  of  his  func- 
tions, man  was  yet  able  to  tame  and  domesticate  all  of 


Ethical  Relations  353 

these,  and  make  them,  in  many  places,  parts  of  his  house- 
hold. The  training  of  the  herbivorous  animals  must  have 
been  a  long  and  tedious  process.  Food  and  water  and 
protection  must  be  provided ;  defence  against  brute  ene- 
mies, and  against  hunting  bands  and  disease.  They 
must,  many  of  them  at  least,  have  been  kept  long  in 
captivity  before  they  were  fitted  to  the  new  conditions ; 
their  peculiar  habits  and  wants  and  uses  must  be  un- 
derstood. 

Time  and  much  patience,  and  mother-wit,  and  re- 
flection on  brute  ways  and  their  tempers  were  of 
incalculable  service  to  the  man.  Self-mastery  came 
through  animal  mastery.  Man  himself  was  tamed.  To 
a  remarkable  degree  the  brute  in  him  was  exorcised 
through  a  penetrating  comradeship  with  the  brute  out 
of  him.  Aside  from  serving  as  pets,  the  animals  were 
found  to  have  a  variety  of  uses — to  assist  in  the  chase, 
perhaps,  at  first;  for  burden  and  draft;  for  food  (milk, 
eggs),  clothing  (fleece),  skins,  flesh,  weapons,  etc.  In 
the  preparation  of  these  articles  considerable  ingenuity 
was  developed ;  cooking  became  more  of  an  art.  Breeds 
were  improved  and  herds  grown  for  exchange;  smiths 
and  spinners  and  weavers  were  common.  Barter  added 
greatly  to  the  variety  of  foods  and  utensils  and  clothing 
one  might  have,  and  exerted  a  stimulating  influence. 

Life  was  taking  on  some  settled  ways,  and  personal 
property  rights  came  to  be  recognized — property  in 
tents  and  herds  and  utensils  and  food  and  clothing. 
There  was  a  beginning  of  the  notion  of  real  property 
even,  when  a  herdsman  or  a  tribe  laid  claim  to  an  ex- 


354  Science  of  Education 

elusive  pasturage,  as  is  shown  when  Abraham  and  Lot 
contended  for  their  privileges.*  Notions  of  property 
and  of  exchange  implied  a  knowledge  and  use  of  at 
least  simple  legal  provisions  for  their  safety  and  for 
the  protection  of  life.  Life  was  becoming  complicated, 
and  faculty  adjusted  to  its  uses.  With  a  milk  and  meat 
subsistence  assured,  man's  habitat  was  greatly  enlarged, 
the  struggle  for  existence  was  less  severe,  and  the  con- 
ditions of  life  were  easing. 

From  the  highest  form  of  the  life  of  the  hunter 
and  warrior,  through  the  third  stage  and  into  the 
settled  life  of  agriculture,  was  probably  the  longest 
and  most  important  step  taken  in  the  natural  his- 
tory of  the  race.  There  were  still  famines  at  times, 
but  the  advance  was  considerable.  It  is  said  f  that 
the  early  American  aborigines  had  no  domesticated 
animals,  and  missing  the  semi-stable  conditions  of 
pastoral  growth,  have  never  found  it  easy  to  enter 
upon  the  settled  life  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  In  gen- 
eral, the  nomadic  life  had  few  wants,  and  so  few  incen- 
tives to  progress.  They  toiled  for  necessities  and  not 
for  comforts. 

With  the  introduction  of  agriculture  the  race  enters 
upon  a  distinctly  civilized  career.  It  assumes  the  form 
of  a  settled  life,  and  accepts  the  home,  or  develops  it 

*  "  The  land  was  not  able  to  bear  them,  that  they  might  dwell  to- 
gether :  for  their  substance  was  great.  .  .  .  And  there  was  a  strife 
between  the  herdmen  of  Abraham's  cattle  and  the  herdmen  of  Lot's 
cattle.  .  .  .  Then  Lot  chose  him  all  the  plain  of  Jordan ;  .  .  .  and 
Abraham  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Canaan."  Genesis  xiii,  6-12. 

f  Humboldt    "  Cosmos,"  ii,  295. 


Ethical  Relations  355 

as  the  true  family  type,  ^rery  simple  at  first,  the  cul- 
tivation of  plants,  and  incidentally  the  soil,  began  when 
man  was  still  a  hunter  and  fisher.  But  the  inconven- 
iences of  the  herdman's  nomadic  life  hastened  his 
"  location."  The  protection  of  rights  in  property,  real 
and  personal,  as  well  as  life,  became  important.  A 
home  was  now  to  be  defended,  patriotism  developed, 
and  thrift  and  providence  and  self-dependence.  Slowly 
the  people  grew  away  from  war  and  toward  the  arts 
of  peace.  Roving  was  not  only  impossible,  but  un- 
profitable. (The  nomadic  instincts  still  remain,  how- 
ever, even  to  the  present  day,  as  witness  the  ready  va- 
grancy in  times  of  discovery — migrations  or  the  move- 
ments to  the  frontiers.)  Along  with  soil  cultivation, 
shepherding  continued.  But  there  was  contentment 
with  the  increasing  comforts  of  a  fixed  habitat,  and  a 
love  of  the  ease,  along  with  the  incident  wars;  and  it 
was  with  the  settled  life  of  farming,  not  with  herding 
and  nomadism,  that  the  great  servitudes  of  the  world 
have  been  developed.  Slavery  is,  primarily,  an  inci- 
dent of  the  agricultural  life. 

Planting,  sowing  and  harvest,  and  the  storing  of 
the  yield  till  the  next  season  introduced  man  to 
a  new  problem.  From  seed  to  seed  was  a  long  time. 
The  sower  must  learn  patience,  as  he  never  needed 
to  learn  it  before.  The  reactions  of  the  mind  are 
now  chiefly  indirect.  He  must  have  utensils,  and 
implements,  and  bins,  and  tools,  and  vehicles  that 
are  of  no  value  in  themselves,  but  in  an  interme- 
diate service.  For  the  results  of  much  of  his  doing 


356  Science  of  Education 

he  must  look  to  a  distant  good.  The  provisions  for 
shelter,  and  warmth,  and  food,  and  covering  were  at 
first  very  simple.  Thought  and  want  made  these,  and 
thought  and  want  made  them  better.  The  weaver  camo 
early,  even  in  the  preceding  state;  carpentry  followed. 
The  mechanical  interests  have  never  mixed  well  with 
the  agricultural.  Throughout  the  period  inventiveness 
has  been  encouraged.  But  it  was  inventiveness  of  a 
simple  sort.  Rural  life  is  somewhat  narrow,  and  pro- 
vincially  disposed.  It  develops  a  sturdy,  reliable  peo- 
ple, but  with  few  interests,  often  dull  and  uninterest- 
ing, and  proverbially  averse  to  change.  Nevertheless,  as 
a  class  they  are  the  mainstay  of  a  nation.  With  the  de- 
veloping of  the  manufacturing  instinct,  and  the  organ- 
ization of  industrial  society  about  creative,  not  merely 
productive  activities,  the  interests  of  the  country  took 
on  new  meaning.  This  will  be  considered  as  the  next 
stage  or  type  form  of  activity. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 

FROM  the  beginning  of  his  human  career  every  sort 
of  industry  has  made  more  or  less  draft  upon  man's 
resourcefulness,  his  inventiveness,  his  manufacturing 
sense.  But  as  a  distinguishing  feature  of  his  activity 
this  faculty  was  comparatively  late  in  developing.  It 
represents  the  first  great  step  in  the  movement  of  de- 
cisive interests  away  from  nature  toward  artificiality; 
making  things,  or  making  them  over;  transforming 
natural  objects  or  materials  before  using  them.  It  was 
very  simple  at  first,  but  potentially  it  stands  not  alone 
for  invention  and  skill,  but  for  art  and  imagination, 
for  multitudes  of  new  experiences  and  increased  com- 
forts, and  more  elaborate  clothing,  and  housing,  and 
furniture,  and  tools,  and  weapons. 

Because  of  the  necessity  for  much  cooperation  there 
arises  division  of  labor,  having  very  definite  aims,  but 
involving  little  personal  independence.  The  labor  is 
more  individual  than  in  agriculture,  but  issues  in  an  ex- 
acting social  dependence,  as  if  one  were  part  only  of  an 
organism — not  an  integer  himself.  For  centuries,  how- 
ever, it  was  mainly  domestic  and  personal ;  the  educative 
value  was  great.  Each  one  in  almost  every  family  was  a 

357 


358  Science  of  Education 

maker.  The  doing  was  reflective,  and  invited  to  in- 
definite variation.  Ingenuity  was  stimulated,  and  the 
fine  art  sense  also,  as  in  no  former  period.  More  and 
more  accurate  tools  could  be  manufactured  with  which 
more  and  better  products  were  turned  out,  along  with 
ideals  of  mechanical  efficiency  and  skill,  and  new  ma- 
chines, and  new  tools,  and  new  combinations  of  materi- 
als, in  a  seemingly  endless  round  of  improvement.  So- 
ciety was  enriched  and  individual  faculty  inspirited. 
For  the  time,  the  mind  was  at  its  best  in  conceiving 
and  planning  and  executing  some  new  thing.  Inven- 
tion and  skill  were  on  the  "  stretch." 

After  many  generations,  the  long  period  of  wandering, 
wilderness-training  of  the  mechanic,  came  the  marvellous 
eighteenth  century  industrial  revolution — the  spinning- 
jenny,  and  frames  and  power  looms,  and  the  introduction 
of  steam.  This  occasioned  the  change  from  the  domestic 
to  the  factory  system.  It  reduced  the  importance  of  the 
individual;  he  became  simply  one  of  a  class.  Society 
was  enriched  at  much  expense  to  the  man.  Each  was 
fitted  now  to  a  narrow  skill.  The  man  was  easily  lost  in 
the  workman.  But  the  machine  called  for  nice  sense- 
adjustments,  and  increased  the  product  of  his  labor, 
and  cheapened  goods  of  many  sorts,  and  the  families 
began  to  live  better,  and  leisure  was  increased,  and  in- 
tellectual interests  diversified.  The  factory  system  has 
a  profound  pedagogical  significance. 

But  another  effect  of  highly  developed  manufactur- 
ing interests  was  the  impetus  given  to  the  cities.  The 
work  called  for  many  operatives  centrally  located. 


Industrial  Relations  359 

First  there  were  the  numerous  farming  towns ;  then  the 
great  centres.  Conventionalities  multiplied.  Life,  as 
compared  with  that  in  the  country  regions,  was  formal 
and  impersonal.  Social  impulses  were  intensified.  In 
the  country  the  social  elements  are  less  closely  knit  to- 
gether, less  organized;  the  city  has  manifold  interests, 
stimulating  ideas,  and  speculative  business  habits. 
Moral  standards  are  likely  to  be  held  with  laxity.  It 
has  been  said  that  "  the  country  produces  the  popula- 
tion, the  energy  and  original  ideas — the  raw  material 
of  the  social  life,  the  food  and  raw  material  of  manu- 
facture ;  by  the  mind  of  the  city  these  are  wrought  into 
forms  of  service  and  beauty."  Quietude,  meditation, 
clear  insight,  and  the  great  faiths  belong  to  the  land. 
The  reactions  of  manufacture  upon  the  surburban  and 
frontier  life  is  stimulating  and  generally  wholesome; 
not  less  so  upon  the  developing  commerce. 

At  the  present  day,  and  among  Western  nations,  of 
the  three  great  occupations — agriculture,  manufac- 
tures and  commerce — the  last  occupies  a  prominent 
place  in  public  notice.  But  statistics  taken  within  the 
last  ten  years  show  that  in  the  United  States  for  the 
entire  population  agriculture  is  the  first  choice,  and 
commerce  and  transportation  the  last.  Agriculture 
stands  for  stability  and  conservatism ;  commerce  for 
expansion.  Commerce  means  cooperation,  and  elabo- 
rate systems  of  conventionality,  and  cosmopolitan  in- 
terests. It  develops  shrewdness  of  a  higher  kind,  for 
the  manipulating  and  exploiting  of  values  and  products. 
The  activity  is  a  sort  of  nomadism  of  intellect,  of  travel 


360  Science  of  Education 

and  economic  crusade.  It  involves  and  produces  great 
physical  and  mental  plasticity.  Through  its  generous 
distributions  every  section  is  a  modern  Rome  to  which 
possibilities  converge.  What  others  have,  each  may 
have.  It  Romanizes  life;  comforts  are  eclectic;  mind 
is  stimulated;  enterprise  prevails;  great  undertakings 
are  the  rule.  As  the  city  is  the  product  of  manufac- 
ture, it  is  the  tool  of  commerce.  The  outlying  regions 
are  urbanized.  Interurban  transportation,  the  tele- 
graph, the  telephone,  good  roads,  free  mail  delivery 
distribute  intelligence  and  comfort  and  efficiency.  Each 
is  made  potential  sharer  in  all. 

So  much  for  the  educational  significance  of  typical 
industries,  and  the  steps  by  which  man  has  come  to 
material  efficiency.  In  the  aggregate  of  his  achieve- 
ments he  has  achieved  himself.  The  means  he  used 
to  maintain  life  have  developed  a  higher  life. 

"  We  rise  by  the  things  put  under  our  feet, 

By  what  we  have  mastered  of  good  and  gain ; 
By  the  pride  deposed,  and  the  passion  slain, 
And  the  vanquished  ills  that  we  hourly  meet." 

Pedagogically,  the  important  fact  in  all  this  discus- 
sion is  that  of  growth  of  this  ethical  sense,  its  charac- 
teristic stages,  and  the  means  of  formal  culture.  The 
growth  and  the  training,  both  in  the  individual  and  the 
race,  follow  somewhat  uniform  lines  and  established 
principles.  Here,  as  in  the  intellectual  life,  the  stages 
or  order  of  development  must  fix  the  distribution  of 
culture. 

Primarily,  right  to  the  child  is  what  he  wants  to  do. 


Industrial  Relations  361 

The  little  one,  barely  able  to  sit  alone,  kicks  from  some 
discomfort,  and  screams  furiously  till  his  demands  are 
satisfied.  His  want  is  the  only  standard.  If  wanted 
badly  enough  and  strenuously  claimed,  he  probably  gets 
its  satisfaction,  and  is  not  only  satisfied  but  justified. 
The  want  may  be  legitimate,  and  the  satisfaction  be  de- 
served, but  that  his  need  was  not  foreseen,  and  was  sat- 
isfied after  an  expressed,  maybe  loudly  expressed  claim, 
confirms  in  him  the  infantile  notion  that  justice  is  to 
be  had  that  way — that  right  is  the  thing  he  wants  to 
do  or  to  have ;  his  will  or  wish  makes  it  so.  Or,  refused, 
capriciously  and  indifferently  and  finally  listened  to, 
he  is  again  justified.  The  standard  of  behavior  is  his 
own  feeling  of  want. 

This,  I  conceive,  is  as  it  should  be.  Acts  are 
not  moral  acts,  unless  self-initiated,  and  however  far 
they  may  depart  from  this  standard  in  the  years 
of  moral  growth,  they  must  return  to  the  self  for 
both  motive  and  choice.  In  time  he  will  substitute 
"  enlightened  wants  "  for  these  animal  claims,  and  find 
reason,  where  now  appears  only  perversity  in  his  sur- 
roundings ;  but  it  is  still  a  purpose,  or  a  will,  or  a  want 
that  is  his.  But  he  is  weak  and,  in  general,  well-dis- 
posed in  the  presence  of  an  experience  which  he  has 
found  able  to  do  so  much  more  for  him  than  he  is  even 
able  to  think  for  himself,  and,  reasonably  refused,  or 
convinced,  or  appeased,  he  readily  capitulates.  The  re- 
fusal has  been  preceded  by  so  many  generous,  loving 
services,  and  other  refusals  have  been  proved  so  wise, 
that  he  yields  with  readiness  and  content. 


362  Science  of  Education 

Right  then  comes  to  be  what  parental  or  other  au- 
thority prescribes.  The  child  approaches  his  first  crit- 
ical period.  The  influence  of  the  mother  is  great.  It 
is  no  easy  matter  to  exercise  authority,  and  in  such  way 
that  the  child's  will  will  not  only  not  be  submerged, 
but  be  strengthened  in  the  power  of  individual  choice. 
Nevertheless  it  is  the  period  of  authority.  Others  must 
determine  for  him.  The  rules  of  the  household,  the  reg- 
ulations of  the  school,  the  teachings  of  the  church,  the 
requirements  of  civil  authority  are  generally  wholesome 
and  should  be  obeyed.  It  was  one  of  the  ethical  maxims 
of  Rosenkranz  *  to  "  accustom  the  pupil  to  uncondi- 
tional obedience  to  the  idea  of  duty,  so  that  he  shall 
perform  it  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  is  duty." 
He  is  to  be  accustomed  to  it,  but  not  corralled  as  by 
force.  The  treatment  must  be  no  invertebrate  stand 
of  concession  and  severity,  neither  must  it  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that,  very  early,  the  child  must  decide  many 
matters  for  himself.  Any  reasonable  treatment  will  be 
equal  to  convincing  most  children  that  the  judgment 
of  parents,  and  teachers,  and  pastors,  and  civil  author- 
ities, older  persons  generally,  even  older  brothers  and 
sisters,  is  likely  to  be  safer  than  their  own.  Right  then 
comes  to  be  that  which  is  prescribed  or  allowed,  or  even 
what  is  not  expressly  prohibited  in  his  privilege. 

This  last,  of  course,  easily  leads  to  technical  evasions 

and  quibblings,  and  a  thoroughly  artificial  and  non-moral 

standard  of  behavior.      Some  people,   many   perhaps, 

concerning  much  of  their  conduct  remain  for  life  in 

*  "  Philosophy  of  Education,"  p.  150. 


Industrial  Relations  363 

the  class  with  those  who  conceive  that  only  to  be  right 
which  they  wish  to  do;  and  others  never  outgrow  the 
second  stage,  but  either  accept  weakly  the  dictum  of 
those  in  authority  or  hold  themselves  at  liberty  to  ignore 
such  commands  as  may  be  evaded,  holding  that  "  a 
theft  undiscovered  is  no  theft " ;  that  dishonest  tax 
returns  are  legitimate  if  let  pass;  that  a  drafted  patri- 
otism is  honorable;  that  unrebuked  discourtesy  is  no 
wrong.  Besides,  it  is  not  needed  that  one  live  long  to 
discover  that  some  people,  so-called  good  people,  re- 
spected and  honored,  regulate  their  conduct  by  very  un- 
conventional and  repudiated  standards.  If  they  can 
do  so,  and  retain  self-respect,  and  receive  honored 
mention,  and  be  efficient  citizens,  why  may  not  others  ? 
Children  of  one  family  find  themselves  under  prohi- 
bitions that  do  not  apply  to  their  young  companions. 
The  restraints  are  brought  to  trial.  Home  rules  are 
questioned.  The  fairness  of  parents  and  teachers  has 
come  to  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  child.  Shall  he  obey 
commands  or  follow  customs  ? 

Almost  inevitably  right  for  the  youth  comes  now  to 
be  what  people  about  him  do ;  not  what  formulated  rules 
prescribe,  but  what  conduct  they  show.  It  is  the  be- 
ginning of  respect  for  public  opinion.  It  is  one  of  the 
heart-breaking  discoveries  of  parents  when  they  find 
that  a  child  is  growing  away  from  them.  He  comes  to 
know  things  they  do  not  know;  to  have  interests  which 
they  have  not  inspired ;  to  entertain  notions  of  behavior 
at  variance  with  theirs ;  to  plan  his  entertainment  with- 
out consulting  them ;  to  weigh  their  counsel.  But  it  is 


364  Science  of  Education 

in  the  order  of  things.  The  growth  of  the  moral  sense 
in  him  rests  upon  the  exercise  of  his  moral  sense.  More 
and  more  his  acts  must  be  purposed  from  within,  not 
from  without. 

In  the  meantime  he  comes  to  be  increasingly  in- 
fluenced by  his  companions  in  the  home,  in  the  school, 
and  in  the  neighborhood,  by  friends  of  the  family 
and  chance  acquaintances.  He  becomes  sensitive  to 
public  opinion,  about  matters  of  speech,  and  dress, 
and  manners,  and  his  personal  appearance.  Under 
certain  influences  he  becomes  tidy,  as  never  under 
the  influence  of  his  mother;  stimulated  by  some 
forceful  character,  he  grows  ambitious  of  achievement, 
studious  and  full  of  plans ;  he  adopts  the  ways  and 
manners  of  a  gentleman.  Under  other  influences  he 
swaggers  or  affects  to  dissipate,  or  befouls  his  language, 
or  revels  in  exciting  literature,  or  wastes  his  leisure. 
He  is  at  the  age  when  it  is  easy  to  accept  the  saying 
that  "  one  is  better  with  others  than  when  he  is  alone, 
and  worse  with  others  than  when  alone."  He  is  ob- 
servant of  ways  of  doing  rather  than  of  any  code  or  pre- 
scriptive reasons ;  of  customs,  not  ideals ;  or  sensitive  to 
ideals  as  they  are  revealed  in  custom.  That  is,  he  be- 
gins to  select  from  current  behavior  what  he  wills  to 
do.  He  assumes  the  position  of  arbiter.  It  is  apparent 
to  adults  that  it  is  really  society  that  decides  for  him. 
He  thinks  that  he  determines  what  part  of  society  shall 
affect  his  decision.  She  is  a  wise  mother  or  teacher 
whose  exercise  of  authority  has  been  such  that  instinc- 
tively he  determines  wisely. 


Industrial  Relations  365 

The  transition  from  the  first  stage  to  the  second  was  a 
gain — a  real  moral  gain — because  he  passed  to  the  guid- 
ance of  a  larger  experience,  that  of  his  parents.  The 
change  from  the  "  must  "  of  the  second  period  to  the 
selected  practice  of  the  third  was  a  long  step,  because  it 
marks  the  beginning  of  self-judgment  in  conduct  as 
against  a  blind  following  of  a  borrowed  judgment.  In 
doing  as  he  finds  others  do,  not  as  is  prescribed,  he  makes 
many  blunders.  Fine  manners  sometimes  rest  with  the 
incompetent  or  the  vicious.  The  companionship  of  those 
whose  ideals  he  adopts  does  not  always  bring  him  either 
respect  or  recognition.  He  sees  no  personal  advantage  in 
such  behavior.  He  begins  to  pass  judgment  upon  his 
companions,  as  once  he  did,  and  perhaps  continues  to 
do,  upon  those  in  authority — his  father  and  mother  and 
teacher.  Shrewdly,  he  concludes  that  he  must  keep  his 
own  counsel,  and  do  what  pays,  i.e.,  what  pays  accord- 
ing to  his  standard  of  worth. 

As  a  result  of  experience,  and  chastened  by  it,  he 
takes  right  now  to  be  what  is  useful.  The  transition 
again  is  one  of  improvement.  Personal  choice  begins 
in  a  direct  way.  Right  ideals  will  assist  much  in  know- 
ing what  is  really  useful,  as  will  early  good  example, 
and  habitually  gentle  behavior,  and  a  character  that 
has  been  forming  in  the  midst  of  genial,  straightfor- 
ward and  sensible,  but  tender  companionships.  What 
he  regards  as  useful  will  be  largely  determined  by  what 
people  about  him  have  regarded  as  useful,  and  with 
what  face  it  has  been  presented.  In  general,  he  will 
accept  probably  as  serviceable  to  him  what  successful 


366  Science  of  Education 

people  have  done — people  whom  he  regards  as  success- 
ful. This  is  the  age  of  hero-worship  and  the  birth  of 
ambitions,  and  an  assertive  self-confidence,  sometimes 
rudeness,  and,  occasionally,  over-sensitiveness ;  of  real  de- 
votion to  purposes,  and  hopefulness.  Jsot  unfrequently 
it  leads  to  or  is  accompanied  by  secretiveness,  deception, 
and,  if  brought  to  the  stand,  falsehood.  He  becomes 
concerned  to  justify  himself  and  his  gallery  of  his- 
torical or  contemporary  personal  characters  kept  for 
admiration  or  example.  He  has  a  dawning  respect  for 
ideals;  and  tries  to  find  explanation  for  success  and 
efficiency,  and  manly  behavior,  and  heroisms;  and  be- 
gins to  see  in  certain  social  conventions  something  more 
than  mere  forms.  He  is  less  insular,  and  finds  reason 
for  respecting  high  achievement  of  men  and  women, 
in  other  times  and  places,  and  under  very  different 
codes;  and  to  have  faith,  touching  conduct,  that  there 
is  somewhat  that  abides. 

Finally,  in  this  natural  history  of  the  moral  sense 
there  arises  the  conviction  that,  in  the  experience  of 
the  race,  that  which  has  been  found  to  have  enduring 
significance  in  human  conduct  has  a  validity  beyond 
creeds  and  codes,  and  the  rules  of  institutions,  and  the 
dogmatisms  of  teachers,  or  any  external  authority.  In 
the  schools,  the  conviction  may  be  strengthened — should 
be — and  the  ideals  given  effective  form  through  chosen 
biographies;  through  the  great  fictions;  through  the 
world's  eminent  moral  leaders;  through  the  race's 
Bibles,  the  high-water  marks  of  its  achievement  in  liv- 
ing, and  ethical  insights,  and  devotion  to  ideals,  and 


Industrial  Relation*  367 

epoch-making  faiths;  and  through  history,  with  its 
wonderful  overcomings,  its  ameliorations  and  its  al- 
truism.. 

"  Ideal  literature,  the  better  class  of  fiction  and 
poetry,  which  not  only  reaches  the  intellect,  but 
touches  the  feelings  and  brings  the  motive  powers  in 
harmony  with  ideal  characters,  deeds  and  aspirations, 
may  have  the  highest  value  in  forming  the  ethical  life 
of  the  pupil.  Here  is  presented  the  very  essence  of  the 
best  ideas  and  feelings  of  humanity — thoughts  that 
burn,  emotions  of  divine  quality,  desires  that  go  be- 
yond our  best  realizations,  acts  that  are  heroic — all 
painted  in  vivid  colors.  By  reading  we  enter  into  the 
life  of  greater  souls,  we  share  their  aspirations,  we 
make  their  treasure  our  own.  A  large  share  of  the 
moralization  of  the  world  is  done  by  this  process  of  ap- 
plying poetry  to  life."  *  There  comes  thus  a  sense  of 
the  permanently  good ;  a  sense  of  an  "  ought "  that  is 
personal  and  not  to  be  evaded;  a  conviction  that  that 
way  lie  contentment,  self-respect,  worthiness. 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  foregoing  presenta- 
tion of  the  development  of  the  moral  sense,  as  worked 
out  in  one's  social  environment,  does  not  pretend  to  be  a 
philosophy  of  morals,  but  a  brief  statement  of  the  natural 
history  of  the  faculty  as  it  comes  to  the  surface  in 
childhood  and  youth.  The  conditions  and  laws  of  such 
growth  are  similar  to  those  of  intellectual  growth.  There 
is  always  present  the  fact  of  personal  responsibility. 
The  act  to  have  any  distinctive  flavor  must  be  one's  own. 
*  Baker.  "  Education  and  Life,"  p.  97. 


368  Science  of  Education 

It  cannot  be  imposed  from  without.  The  notion,  too, 
of  the  quality  of  Tightness  or  wrongness  in  conduct  has 
an  early  beginning,  and  can  only  grow — it  cannot  be 
manufactured.  Moreover,  character,  just  as  scholarship, 
is  the  product  of  an  individual  effort.  Each  must  work 
out  his  own  salvation. 

As  concerns  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  sense  by  the 
school  or  the  home,  beyond  what  has  already  been  said, 
what  may  be  done  with  advantage  will  vary  with  the 
disposition  and  varying  points  of  view  of  the  child.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said,  the  moral  responsibility  must 
be  estimated  in  terms  of  his  experience,  not  that  of 
his  teachers  or  elders.  A  man  or  a  boy  shall  be  judged, 
in  moral  matters  also,  according  to  that  he  hath  of  in- 
sight, and  maturity  and  ideals,  not  according  to  that 
he  hath  not.  As  the  s'ense  of  obligation  is  at  first  nega- 
tive, however,  there  is  required  an  intelligent  exercise 
of  authority.  But  it  should  be  the  authority  of  wisdom, 
wise  sympathy  and  understanding,  not  the  authority  of 
officialism.  It  should  guide  without  dominating;  in- 
struct and  inspire,  not  compel. 

As  conduct  greatly  depends  upon  habit,  right  con- 
duct should  be  early  mechanized  in  all  minor  and 
conventional  forms.  These  habits  of  behavior  con- 
stitute the  carrying  machinery  for  the  more  distinctly 
moral  actions  of  later  years.  A  scrupulous  observ- 
ance of  the  forms  of  manliness  and  honesty  and  so- 
cial courtesy  makes  easier,  stimulates  to,  the  prac- 
tice of  manliness,  honesty  and  gentle  courtesy.  At 
certain  stages  also,  in  the  growth  of  the  ethical  sense, 


Industrial  Relations  369 

utilitarian  and  prudential  appeals  most  readily  reach 
the  child.  This  is  the  stage  of  "  honesty  is  the  best 
policy,"  and  should  be  so  recognized.  It  is  not  un- 
worthy because  it  is  not  the  highest  appeal.  Just  as 
punishment  for  wilful  wrong-doing  is  legitimate,  so  is 
reward  for  purposeful  right-doing.  But  the  reward 
must  be  accorded  for  a  conquest  over  self,  not  because 
a  pupil  has  surpassed  some  other  in  the  observance  of 
regulations.  Appeals  to  the  desire  of  approbation,  to 
love  of  decorations  or  membership  in  leagues  or  socie- 
ties to  which  all  may  attain ;  or  appreciation  of  coveted 
privileges  or  service  where  the  evils  of  rivalry  are 
avoided,  or  of  objects  of  material  value  won  by  thought- 
ful conduct  or  fidelity  to  child  responsibilities,  are  all 
valid  marks  of  recognition  of  the  utility  stage  in  the 
development  of  this  sense.  The  object  of  all  discipline 
and  punishments  and  rewards  is  not  to  secure  or  main- 
tain "  good  order "  or  obedience  to  rules,  but  looks 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  right  habits  of  mind,  and  a 
disposition  to  choose  safely.  Mere  disorder  may  be 
often  overlooked,  if  the  child  be  really  gaining  in  self- 
control  and  considerateness.  It  should  be  noted  also 
that,  in  the  normal  growth  of  this  ethical  character, 
there  is  a  gradual  substitution  of  distant  for  present 
or  immediate  pleasures  and  interests  as  motives  to 
right  conduct.  The  hope  or  reasonable  assurance  of 
"  promotion  "  at  the  end  of  a  school  period  is  a  real 
and  healthy  motive  to  a  child  at  certain  stages  of  his 
advancement,  an  assurance  that  his  labors  shall  not  go 
for  nothing,  and  that  no  technical  and  accidental  short- 


370  Science  of  Education 

comings  snail  be  allowed  to  cheat  him  of  his  deserts. 
He  is  an  utilitarian,  and  has  so  fine  a  sense  of  fairness 
that  any  really  fair  dealing  with  him  easily  tides  him 
over  a  doubtful  period. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
ANTHROPOLOGY 

IN  anthropology,  also,  are  to  be  found  yet  other  con- 
ditions determinative  of  educational  doctrine.  It  has 
been  defined  as  the  science  of  man  in  his  aggregate  of 
functions,  and  giving  one  product,  of  which  it  presents 
the  natural  history.  "  It  investigates  man  as  this  com- 
plex whole,  as  he  is  found  in  temperament,  race,  sex 
and  age;  and  as  he  is  affected  by  climate  and  employ- 
ment, or  a  more  or  less  perfect  civilization.  It  in- 
quires how  he  is  formed  and  changed  in  body  and  soul 
by  inherited  peculiarities  and  accidental  circumstances. 
It  discusses  the  influence  of  the  soul  upon  the  body 
and  the  body  upon  the  soul,  in  the  normal  and  abnormal 
states  and  functions  of  each.  But  it  notices  and  records 
the  various  phenomena  of  each,  only  so  far  as  they 
are  open  to  general  observation,  and  require  no  scien- 
tific anaylsis  or  explanation."  *  In  his  "  Man's  Place 
in  Nature,"  delivered  as  lectures,  and  published  in 
1863,  Huxley  includes  six  chapters  touching  the  "  Nat- 
ural History  of  the  Man-like  Apes,"  the  "  Relations  of 
Man  to  the  Lower  Animals,"  and  certain  ethnological 
questions.  "  The  object  of  anthropology,"  says  Quatre- 

*  Porter.     "  The  Human  Intellect,"  p.  7. 
371 


372  Science  of  Education 

fages,  "  is  the  study  of  man  as  a  species."  Notwith- 
standing, he  has  his  special  and  exclusively  human  phe- 
nomena, and  is  studied  as  such  in  human  physiology 
and  pathology  and  philosophy  and  religion ;  he  is  also 
an  organized  being,  and  is  subject  to  the  same  laws  and 
environing  conditions  as  bear  upon  other  living  beings, 
conditions  of  climate,  topography,  food-supply,  other 
animal  groups,  sex,  etc.  Mr.  Tyler  speaks  of  the  sub- 
ject as  "  the  science  of  man  and  civilization,"  which 
connects  into  a  more  manageable  whole  many  of  the 
scattered  subjects  of  an  ordinary  education ;  and  in  his 
suggestive  volume,*  which  he  calls  "  an  introduction 
to  anthropology,  rather  than  a  summary  of  all  it 
teaches,"  he  includes,  besides  the  customary  considera- 
tion of  man  in  relation  to  other  animals,  ancient  and 
modern  man,  and  the  races  of  mankind,  a  dozen  very 
valuable  chapters  on  the  natural  history  of  language, 
writing,  the  arts  of  life  (very  full  and  interesting), 
the  arts  of  pleasure,  science,  the  spirit  world,  mythol- 
ogy, and  social  developments.  What  man  is  to-day  in 
any  one  of  these  respects  is  but  the  apex  of  centuries  of 
struggle,  of  experimenting,  sometimes  being  experi- 
mented upon ;  here  failing,  there  succeeding ;  occasion- 
ally failing  to  the  verge  of  extinction,  again  succeeding 
even  to  mastery;  shifting  results  and  conserving  the 
few  that  are  found  worthy.  The  way  up  has  been  tor- 
tuous, but  up.  Each  generation,  each  individual,  in- 
deed, is  the  sum  of  a  lineal  series  reaching  far  back  into 
the  centuries,  and  any  dealing  with  either  that  deals 
*E.  B.  Tyler.  "Anthropology." 


Anthropology  373 

justly  must  therefore  take  that  past  into  account. 
J.  T.  Trowbridge,  in  the  poem  *  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  an  extract,  represents  the  speaker  as  reading  a 
family  history,  and  reflecting  upon  the  source  of  his 
character  impulses.  It  puts  the  case  fairly  and  in 
striking  phrase. 


Open  lies  the  book  before  me  ; 

In  a  realm  obscure  as  dreams, 
I  can  trace  the  pale  blue  mazes 

Of  innumerable  streams, 
That  from  regions  lost  in  distance, 

Vales  of  shadow  far  apart, 
Meet  to  blend  their  mystic  forces 

In  the  torrents  of  my  heart. 

Pensively  I  turn  the  pages, 

Pausing,  curious  and  aghast ; 
What  commingled  unknown  currents, 

Mighty  passions  of  the  past, 
In  this  narrow,  pulsing  moment, 

Through  ray  fragile  being  pour, 
Prom  the  mystery  behind  me 

To  the  mystery  before  ! 

I  put  by  the  book:  in  vision 

Rise  the  gray  ancestral  ghosts, 
Reaching  back  into  the  ages, 

Vague,  interminable  hosts. 
From  the  home  of  modem  culture, 

To  the  cave  uncouth  and  dim, 
Where— what's  he  that  gropes? 

A  savage,  naked,  gibbering,  grim! 

*  J.  T.  Trowbridge.     "Ancestors." 


874  Science  of  Education 


I  was  moulded  in  that  far-off 

Time  of  ignorance  and  wrong, 
When  the  world  was  to  the  crafty, 

To  the  ravenous  and  strong ; 
Tempered  in  the  fires  of  struggle, 

Of  aggression  and  resistance, 
In  the  prowler  and  the  slayer 

I  have  had  a  pre-existence. 

Wild  forefathers,  I  salute  you  I 

Though  your  times  were  fierce  and  rude, 
From  their  rugged  husks  of  evil 

Comes  the  kernel  of  our  good ; 
Sweet  the  righteousness  that  follows, 

Great  the  forces  that  foreran  ; 
'Tis  the  marvel  still  of  marvels, 

That  there's  such  a  thing  as  man! 

Now  I  see  I  have  exacted 

Too  much  justice  of  my  race, 
Of  my  own  heart  too  much  wisdom, 

Of  my  brothers  too  much  grace  ; 
Craft  and  greed  our  primal  dower, 

Wrath  and  hate  our  heritage, 
Scarcely  gleams  as  yet  the  crescent 

Of  the  full -orbed  golden  age. 

Man's  great  passions  are  coeval 

With  the  vital  breath  he  draws, 
Older  than  all  codes  of  custom, 

All  religions,  and  all  laws; 
Before  prudence  was,  or  justice, 

They  were  proved  and  justified; 
We  may  shame  them  and  deny  them, 

Their  dominion  will  abide. 

Wrong  and  insult  find  me  weaponed 
For  a  more  heroic  strife; 


Anthropology  375 

In  the  sheath  of  mercy  quivers 

The  barbarian's  ready  knife. 
But  I  blame  no  more  the  givers 

For  the  rudeness  of  the  dower ; 
'Twas  the  roughness  of  the  thistle 

That  insured  the  future  flower. 

Somehow  hidden  in  the  slayer 

Was  the  singer  yet  to  be ; 
In  the  fiercest  of  my  fathers 

Lived  the  prophecy  of  me  ; 
But  the  turbid  rivers  flowing 

To  my  heart,  were  filtered  through 
Tranquil  veins  of  honest  toilers, 

To  a  more  cerulean  hue. 

0  my  fathers,  in  whose  bosoms 
Slowly  dawned  the  later  light, 

In  whom  grew  the  thirst  for  knowledge, 
In  whom  burned  the  love  of  right : 

All  my  heart  goes  out  to  know  you. 
With  a  yearning  near  to  pain, 

1  once  more  take  up  the  volume; 
But  I  turn  the  leaves  in  vain. 

Not  a  voice  of  all  your  voices 

Comes  to  me  from  out  the  vast ; 
Not  a  thought  of  all  your  thinking 

Into  living  form  has  passed  ; 
As  I  peer  into  the  darkness, 

Not  a  being  of  my  name 
Stands  revealed  against  the  shadows 

In  the  beacon  glare  of  flame. 

Yet  your  presence,  O  my  parents, 

In  my  inmost  soul  I  find, 
Your  persistent  spectres  haunting 

The  dim  chambers  of  my  mind  ; 


37*6  Science  of  Education 


Old  convulsions  of  the  planet 

In  the  new  earth  leave  their  trace, 

And  a  child's  heart  is  tan  index 
To  the  story  of  his  race. 

Each  with  his  unuttered  secret, 

Down  the  common  road  you  went, 
Winged  with  hope  and  exultation, 

Bowed  with  toil  and  discontent: 
Fear  and  triumph  and  bereavement, 

Birth  and  death  and  love  and  strife, 
Wove  the  evanescent  vesture 

Of  your  many-colored  life. 

Your  long-silent  generations 

First  in  me  have  found  a  tongue, 
And  I  bear  the  mystic  burden 

Of  a  thousand  lives  unsung  : 
Hence  this  love  for  all  that's  human, 

The  strange  sympathies  I  feel, 
Subtle  memories  and  emotions 

Which  I  stammer  to  reveal. 

Here  I  joy  and  sing  and  suffer, 

In  this  moment  fleeting  fast, 
Then  become  myself  a  phantom 

Of  the  far-receding  past, 
When  our  modern  shall  be  ancient, 

And  the  narrow  times  expand, 
Down  through  ever-broadening  eras, 

To  a  future  vast  and  grand. 

Yours  the  full-blown  flower  of  freedom, 
Which  in  struggle  we  have  sown ; 

Yours  the  spiritual  science 
That  shall  overarch  our  own  : 

You  in  turn  will  look  with  wonder, 
From  a  more  enlightened  time, 


Anthropology  377 

Upon  us,  your  rude  forefathers 
In  an  age  of  war  and  crime. 

Half  our  virtues  will  seem  vices, 

By  your  broader,  higher  right, 
And  the  brightness  of  the  present 

Will  be  shadow  in  that  light : 
For  behold,  our  boasted  culture 

Is  a  morning  cloud  unfurled 
In  the  dawning  of  the  ages, 

And  the  twilight  of  the  world. 

Looking  at  the  science  of  anthropology  with  refer- 
ence to  pedagogical  meaning,  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
record  of  the  race's  dependence  upon  and  gradual  eman- 
cipation from  nature.  From  primitive  times  to  the 
present,  man's  attitude  toward  nature  has  changed  in- 
calculably, but  in  most  highly  cultivated  persons  there 
are  vestiges  of  primitive  habits  and  instincts,  supersti- 
tions and  fears,  longings,  forebodings,  unintelligible  un- 
certainties and  presumptions.  Many  of  these  hint  of  a 
day  when  man  was  mastered  by  nature,  inexorable,  and, 
humanly  speaking,  cruel.  The  following  extract  from 
Owen  Meredith's  "  Lucile  "  is  a  brief  but  comprehen- 
sive epitome  of  the  human  conflict  in  the  civilizing 
process.  He  says : 

Man  is  born  on  a  battle  field.     Round  him  to  rend 

Or  resist,  the  dread  powers  he  displaces  attend, 

By  the  cradle  which  nature,  amidst  the  stern  shocks 

That  have  shattered  creation,  and  shapened  its  rocks. 

He  leaps  with  a  wail  into  being,  and  lo! 

His  own  mother,  fierce  Nature  herself,  is  his  foe. 

Her  whirlwinds  are  roused  into  wrath  o'er  his  head: 

'Neath  his  feet  roll  her  earthquakes  ;  her  solitudes  spread 


378  Science  of  Education 

To  daunt  him  ;  her  forces  dispute  his  command : 
Her  snows  fall  to  freeze  him  ;  her  rocks  rise  to  crush  : 
And  lion  and  leopard,  allied,  lurk  t^  rush 
On  their  startled  invader,     .     .     . 
.     .     .     and  the  first  thing  he  worships  is  terror. 

.     .     .    Anon, 

Still  impelled  by  necessity  hungrily  on, 
He  conquers  the  realms  of  his  own  self-reliance, 
And  the  last  cry  of  fear  wakes  the  first  of  defiance. 

And  man  conquering  terror  is  worshipped  by  man. 
A  camp  has  this  world  been  since  first  it  began  ! 
From  his  tent  sweeps  the  roving  Arabian  ;  at  peace, 
A  mere  wandering  shepherd  that  follows  the  fleece  ; 
But  warring  his  way  through  a  world's  destinies, 
Lo,  from  Delhi,  from  Bagdad,  from  Cordova  rise 
Domes  of  empiry,  dowered  with  science  and  art, 
Schools,  libraries,  forums,  the  palace,  the  mart. 

New  realms  to  man's  soul  have  been  conquered.    But  those 

Forthwith  they  see  peopled  for  man  by  new  foes  ! 

The  stars  keep  their  secrets,  the  earth  hides  her  own, 

And  bold  must  the  man  be  that  braves  the  unknown  ! 

Not  a  truth  has  to  art  or  to  science  been  given, 

But  brows  have  ached  for  it,  and  souls  toiled  and  striven  ! 

And  many  have  striven  and  many  have  failed, 

And  many  died  slain  by  the  truth  they  assailed. 

But  when  man  hath  tamed  Nature,  asserted  his  place 

And  dominion,  behold  !  he  is  brought  face  to  face 

With  a  new  foe — himself  I 

The  principal  physical  influences  bearing  upon  man 
are  climate,  seasons,  topography,  soil,  and  animal  and 
plant  environment.  These  are  of  far  less  hostile  char- 
acter to-day  than  in  early  experiences  of  the  race.  Prim- 
itive man,  for  instance,  had  in  the  case  of  any  particu- 


Anthropology  379 

lar  group  a  very  narrow  habitat.  Easy  acclimatization 
belongs  to  the  civilized  races.  Savages  are  scarcely  less 
susceptible  than  animals  to  the  physical  hindrances  of 
climate,  variations  of  altitude,  bodies  of  water  and  tree- 
less plains.  Herodotus  asserts  that  there  was  a  time 
when  the  great  Egyptians  had  lived  upon  roots  and 
fruits,  making  a  kind  of  bread  from  the  middle  part 
of  the  lotus,  dried  and  baked ;  and  had  risen  from  this 
state  to  one  of  civilization.  And  no  high  civilization 
has  ever  been  able  to  maintain  itself  below  the  temper- 
ate zone  or  beyond  the  fiftieth  degree  of  latitude,  ex- 
cept where  some  special  influence  modified  the  climate. 
Even  yet,  twenty-five  degrees  in  width  (north  and 
south)  across  the  two  Americas,  Eurasia  and  Australia, 
comprise  the  areas  really  serviceable  to  effective  living. 
If  the  climate  be  such  as  to  make  the  struggle  too  se- 
vere, or  if  it  be  such  as  to  call  for  no  struggle,  there  is 
a  corresponding  loss  of  vitality. 

Mankind  inhabits  all  parts  of  the  earth's  land  surface, 
but  a  small  portion  only  has  been  conquered  to  the  extent 
that  it  is  fit  for  the  erection  of  progressive  institutions. 
Until  the  most  recent  periods,  indeed,  the  boundaries  be- 
tween nations  were  natural  barriers.  As  instances  of 
this  may  be  mentioned  the  channel  separating  England 
from  the  mainland,  the  mountains  of  Asia  and  South 
America,  the  bold  topography  about  little  Switzerland, 
and  the  early  conception  of  the  sea-coast  colonies  in  the 
United  States  concerning  the  Alleghenies  as  an  insepara- 
ble barrier  against  any  States-settlement  of  the  region 
west  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  a  rugged  topography 


380  Science  of  Education 

as  the  home  of  a  people  has  always  favored  a  sturdy  in- 
dependence; an  indented  coast  line,  commerce  and  a 
sea-faring  life;  rocky  coasts,  fishing;  and  an  invigorat- 
ing climate,  civic  energy  and  progressive  institutions. 
For  centuries  after  civilization  began  the  great  oceans 
were  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  distant  coloniza- 
tion or  to  extended  commerce.  Wind  and  storm  added 
to  the  difficulty.  The  stubbornness  of  natural  condi- 
tions in  manifold  ways  have  made  the  meagre  and  pre- 
carious food-supply  a  constant  menace. 

Whether  it  be  the  infertility  of  the  soil,  the  rigors  of 
the  climate,  the  contracted  territory  and  a  dense  popula- 
tion, or  the  thriftless,  improvident  character  of  the  peo- 
ple, millions  in  every  century  have  had  neither  leisure 
nor  energy  for  any  high  accomplishments  in  civilization. 
To  all  such,  nature  and  nature's  demands  have  made  life 
a  hard,  unlovely  and  hopeless  or  hope-deferred  thing.  It 
destroys  spontaneity,  dulls  ambition  and  belittles  effort, 
whether  among  Fuegians  or  the  habitants  of  city  slums, 
of  whatever  race  or  antecedent.  From  whatever  cause, 
badly  nourished,  insufficiently  clothed  children  are  poor 
material  for  any  formal  instruction.  It  is  fundamental 
that  they  and  their  people  be  taught  how  to  live  while 
acquiring  the  means  of  living.  Learning  of  whatever 
sort,  that  leaves  the  mind  spiritless  and  content  on  low 
levels,  is  of  doubtful  service.  Constantly  to  aspire  to 
something  better,  to  greater  efficiency,  to  more  abun- 
dant life  is  the  one  product  of  education  to  be  coveted. 
The  school  must  strive  to  do  for  all  what  this  all-per- 
vading friction  with  a  not  unfriendly  but  unyielding 


Anthropology  381 

nature  has  done  for  many — arouse  them  to  a  confident 
self-help. 

Throughout  the  preceding  paragraph  there  has  been 
implied  the  thought  that  the  pursuit  of  this  strife  with 
nature  was  not  to  be  unequal.  The  divine  command  to 
"  bo  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth," 
included  the  further  responsibility  to  "  subdue  it."  The 
steps  in  material  civilization  are"  an  expression  of  man's 
progress  in  this  subjugation.  The  procession  has  not 
always  been  one  of  progress  even  to  man.  Sometimes  he 
has  made  his  way  harder.  That  he  has  progressed 
means  that  he  has  also  often,  more  often,  eased  the 
conditions.  Many  things  had  to  be  discovered,  and 
others  invented,  and  still  others  better  understood,  be- 
fore some  of  the  simplest  raw  materials  could  be  brought 
into  any  effective  service.  Much  more,  the  so-called 
forces  of  nature  must  be  brought  into  working  control. 

The  acquiring  of  mere  comforts  needed  centuries  of 
struggle. 

Almost  seven  centuries  ago,  but  hundreds  of  genera- 
tions after  fire  was  known,  Roger  Bacon,  the  great  Eng- 
lish philosopher  and  Middle  Age  monk,  said,  two  things 
the  race  most  needed  for  its  further  progress:  some 
means  of  heating,  that  the  year  might  be  lengthened  for 
man's  use,  and  an  efficient  means  of  lighting,  that  more 
hours  of  the  day  might  be  employed.  But  for  five  hun- 
dred years  after  this  even  there  was  not  so  much  as  one 
public  lamp  in  the  streets  of  London  or  Paris,  though 
two  centuries  earlier  in  Cordova,  Spain,  "  a  man  might 
walk  through  the  streets  in  a  straight  line  ten  miles  by 
*  Genesis  i,  28. 


382  Science  of  Education 

the  light  of  public  lamps."  So  slowly  even  then  did 
the  conveniences  of  life  diffuse  themselves  among  the 
people. 

Man  has  learned,  however,  to  cross  natural  bar- 
riers of  land  and  water;  he  has  converted  to  his  use 
winds,  and  rivers,  and  heat,  and  even  tides.  Dikes 
have  been  raised  to  prevent  floods  and  to  reclaim  ripa- 
rian lands ;  streams  have  been  turned  from  their  courses 
in  mill-races,  canals,  and  for  vast  systems  of  irrigation ; 
swamps  have  been  reclaimed  and  converted  into  pro- 
ductive, arable  land ;  mountains  have  been  pierced  with 
shafts  and  tunnels  for  wealth  of  minerals;  sea  ap- 
proaches have  been  turned  into  harbors;  deserts  have 
been  brought  to  cultivation,  and  millions  of  acres  of  tim- 
ber land  cleared  for  the  plough  and  for  homes.  Rivers 
have  been  bridged,  highways  built,  and  bodies  of  water 
connected  by  great  canals.  Both  animal  and  plant 
species  in  considerable  numbers  have  been  modified  in 
important  respects — in  food  and  habit  and  habitat  and 
disposition ;  animals  in  a  measure,  and  plants  in  a  re- 
markable degree,  have  been  redistributed  geographically 
and  acclimated  with  success. 

But  the  really  great  example  of  man's  reduction  of 
nature  to  his  point  of  view  appears  in  his  recognition 
and  interpretation  and  practical  use  of  what  have  come 
to  be  known  as  the  "  forces  "  of  nature.  In  chemistry 
there  has  come  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  gases,  the 
decomposition  of  earth  substances,  elements  and  com- 
pounds, and  relative  weights,  and  numerous  great  and 
*  See  Draper.  "  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  ii,  p.  81. 


Anthropology  383 

incident  industries ;  in  physics,  a  long  list  of  discoveries 
and  inventions,  of  forces  and  instruments,  for  scientific 
study  and  research,  in  both  peace  and  war ;  in  engineer- 
ing, no  less  startling  achievements,  from  the  simplest 
works  to  the  most  elaborate  foundation  and  structural 
concretes,  bridge-building,  railroading,  hydraulic  and 
engine  construction,  metallurgy  and  mining,  to  the 
modern  seemingly  incredible  feats  of  industrial  en- 
gineering that  have  revolutionized  all  forms  of  manu- 
facture. So  great  has  been  its  service  to  human  com- 
fort, it  has  been  claimed  that  "  engineering  is  the  art  of 
controlling  the  great  powers  of  nature  for  the  use  and 
convenience  of  man."  * 

Similarly  in  the  handling  of  health  and  disease, 
preventive  medicine  has  made  great  and  solid  ad- 
vance; as  have  the  discoveries  of  bacteriology,  vac- 
cination, anaesthetics,  medical  surgery,  the  Roentgen 
ray,  and  the  introduction  and  employment  of  hospitals, 
trained  nurses,  etc.  Without  specifying  at  length,  per- 
haps the  most  noticeable  and  important  advance  made 
in  recent  years  is  in  the  field  of  electricity,  with  its 
electro-chemical  work,  wire  conductors  and  cables  for 
lighting,  telegraph  and  telephone,  motors,  dynamos, 
storage  batteries,  power-transmission,  electric  welding, 
etc.  It  took  centuries  after  the  assumption  of  a  rela- 
tively high  civilization  to  bring  the  simplest  of  these 
near  enough  to  man  to  claim  his  critical  attention  even. 
"  Primitive  men,"  it  has  been  said,  "  are  bewildered  in 
the  presence  of  these  natural  forces.  They  lack  knowl- 
*  See  "  Progress  of  the  Century,"  p.  449. 


384  Science  of  Education 

edge  and  skill  to  use  them,  or  even  the  raw  materials 
nearest  at  hand.  The  field,  the  plain,  the  forest,  the 
mountain  are  rich  with  treasures,  but  they  know  not 
how  to  find  them." 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  higher  and  moral  interests 
of  man  are  supreme,  and  in  this  overcoming  of 
material  nature  one  is  led  to  ask,  What  has  this  nat- 
ural and  human  environment  done  for  the  spiritual 
faculties  ?  Is  it  true,  as  Huxley  suggests,  that  "  the 
struggle  for  existence,  which  has  done  much  admira- 
ble work  in  cosmic  nature,  must  be  equally  benefi- 
cent in  the  ethical  sphere  "  ?  *  In  another  paragraph 
the  same  author  says :  "  Let  us  understand,  once  for  all, 
that  the  ethical  progress  of  society  depends  not  on  imi- 
tating the  cosmic  process,  still  less  in  running  away  from 
it,  but  in  combating  it.  ...  The  history  of  civiliza- 
tion details  the  steps  by  which  men  have  succeeded  in 
building  up  an  artificial  world  within  the  cosmos.  Frag- 
ile reed  as  he  may  be,  man,  as  Pascal  says,  is  a  think- 
ing reed ;  there  lies  within  him  a  fund  of  energy,  oper- 
ating intelligently,  and  so  far  akin  to  that  which  per- 
vades the  universe  that  it  is  competent  to  influence  and 
modify  the  cosmic  process.  In  virtue  of  his  intelli- 
gence, the  dwarf  bends  the  Titan  to  his  will.  In  every 
family,  in  every  polity  that  has  been  established,  the 
cosmic  process  in  man  has  been  restrained  and  other- 
wise modified  by  law  and  custom;  in  surrounding 
nature  it  has  been  similarly  influenced  by  the  art  of 
the  shepherd,  the  agriculturist,  the  artisan.  As  civiliza- 
*  Huxley.  "  Evolution  and  Ethics,"  p.  83. 


Anthropology  385 

tion  has  advanced,  so  has  the  extent  of  this  interference 
increased,  until  the  organized  and  highly  developed  sci- 
ences and  arts  of  the  present  day  have  endowed  man 
with  a  command  over  the  course  of  non-human  nature 
greater  than  that  once  attributed  to  the  magician." 
"  For  his  successful  progress  throughout  the  savage 
state  man  has  been  largely  indebted  to  those  qualities 
which  he  shares  with  the  ape  and  the  tiger;  his  excep- 
tional physical  organization,  his  cunning,  his  sociabil- 
ity, his  curiosity,  and  his  imitativeness ;  his  ruthless  and 
ferocious  destructiveness  when  his  anger  is  aroused  by 
opposition.  But  in  proportion  as  men  have  passed  from 
anarchy  to  social  organization,  and  in  proportion  as 
civilization  has  grown  in  worth,  these  deeply  ingrained 
serviceable  qualities  have  become  defects."  *  But  he 
asks :  "  Will  not  the  intelligence  which  has  converted 
the  brother  of  the  wolf  into  the  faithful  guardian  of 
the  flock  be  able  to  do  something  toward  curbing  the 
instincts  of  savagery  in  civilized  man  ?  " 

The  problem  is  pregnant  with  meaning  and  suggestion 
for  teachers.  A  system  of  educational  doctrine  must  be 
inadequate  that  does  not  allow  for  a  consideration  of 
these  basic  qualities  as  conditioning  formal  guidance. 

Race  characteristics  also  are  anthropological  facts 
having  educational  significance.  Primarily,  tempera- 
mental differences  have  diverged  philosophies,  and 
standards  of  conduct,  and  pedagogical  theory  and  prac- 
tice. No  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  professional  lit- 
erature of  the  modern  great  nations  can  fail  to  recog- 
*  Huxley.  "Evolution  and  Ethica,"  p.  61. 


386  Science  of  Education 

nize  the  effects  upon  education  of  English  conserva- 
tism, or  the  German  militant  and  monarchic  institu- 
tions, or  French  secularism,  or  the  American  optimism, 
in  their  respective  countries.  A  striking  contrast 
appears  between  the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  in 
their  temper  and  their  education.  The  Chinese  .are  the 
English  of  the  Orient,  conservative,  stable,  self-assured ; 
the  Japanese  are  the  Oriental  French.  The  Chinese  con- 
servatism is  of  the  past;  the  English  of  the  present. 
With  the  Germans  it  is  rather  a  conservatism  of  au- 
thority. The  Americans  are  restless,  looking  to  the  fu- 
ture, trying  for  success,  because  of  past  success;  the 
Japanese,  equally  restless,  seeking  success  on  the  ruins 
of  past  failure.  Canada  and  Japan,  in  education,  rep- 
resent not  growth  but  the  eclectic  principle. 

"  A  nation,"  says  Fouillee,*  "  like  an  individual,  has 
its  own  instinct  and  genius,  and  has  a  more  or  less  vague 
sense  of  its  mission  to  humanity.  .  .  .  The  Jews  were 
not  the  only  people  who  believed,  and  rightly  believed, 
that  they  were  chosen  to  transform  the  world ;  the  Greeks 
considered  their  mission  to  be  the  propagation  of  the  arts 
and  sciences ;  Rome  claimed  the  dominion  of  the  world 
— even  when  invaded  by  barbarians  she  still  was  queen ; 
.  .  .  the  English  claim  that  their  destiny  is  to  rule 
the  sea,  and  to  found  colonies  in  distant  lands.  Ameri- 
cans are  fond  of  representing  their  country  as  a  theatre 
for  the  trial  and  development  of  liberty  in  every  form, 
and  in  every  direction  of  speculative  and  practical 
life.  .  .  .  We  know  the  Germany  of  to-day  believes 

*  Fouill6e.     "  Education  from  a  National  Standpoint,"  pp.  3-6. 


Anthropology  387 

in  her  scientific  and  political  mission,  just  as  in  the 
time  of  Luther  she  believed  in  her  religious  mission. 
As  for  France,  her  belief  in  the  universal  triumph  of 
reason,  law  and  fraternity  is  a  commonplace." 

It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  these  differences  of  race  and 
nationality  are  anything  deeper  than  social  heredity. 
But,  whether  received  by  social  or  biological  inheri- 
tance, they  constitute  strong  factors  in  the  national  ed- 
ucation. The  race  and  national  spirit  cannot  wisely  be 
ignored.  Of  Guyau's  "  Education  and  Heredity,"  put- 
ting together  the  two  essential  factors  in  the  national 
education — the  individual  and  the  nation — Fouillee  has 
said  that  the  problem  of  education  is,  given  the  heredi- 
tary merits  and  faults  of  a  race,  how  far  may  they  be 
modified  by  means  of  education  for  the  benefit  of  a  new 
heredity  ?  and  adds  that  "  it  is  not  merely  a  matter  of 
the  instruction  of  individuals,  but  of  the  preservation 
and  improvement  of  the  race." 

Inequalities  in  race  development  determine  the  co- 
existence of  unlike  systems,  and  often  opposing  educa- 
tional claims.  With  a  negro  population  of  more  than 
7,000,000  in  the  United  States,  250,000  Indian  wards, 
and  an  almost  unbroken  stream  of  immigrants,  of 
all  nations  and  every  possible  social  class,  we  have 
need  in  this  country  to  understand  the  ethnic  and  na- 
tional points  of  view  in  education.  If  such  heteroge- 
neous people  are  to  be  really  a  nation,  their  fatherland 
heredities  and  their  age-long  social  predispositions 
must  here  be  brought  into  accord  with  our  own  national 
spirit  No  mere  information  barnacled  onto  their  lives, 


388  Science  of  Education 

and  as  such  held  at  second-hand,  can  be  effective  to  di- 
vert any  ingrained  inheritance.  It  must  be  something 
more  than  veneering.  It  must  reach  the  heart  and  the 
purposes,  and  be  equal  to  giving  a  new  trend  to  the 
life.  The  unthinking  races  are  teleological,  supersti- 
tious, and  hold  all  truth  with  a  bias.  To  such  persons 
each  truth  has  its  private  meanings,  which  they  sur- 
render with  protest.  Not  always  do  honor  and  hon- 
esty and  labor,  and  the  claims  of  home,  and  free  speech, 
and  love  of  country,  and  civic  responsibility,  connote 
universal  and  impersonal  verities. 

Fitting  for  higher  levels  goes  on  but  slowly.  Primitive 
races  especially  take  a  limited  education  well ;  often  with 
exceptional  ease.  But  they  sooner  reach  the  limit  of  their 
capacity.  Individual  facts,  concrete  exercises,  memory 
acquisitions,  handwork,  and  an  active  life  attract.  Be- 
sides the  Indian  and  the  negro,  there  are  millions  in  the 
United  States  to  whom  this  applies.  The  state  of  race  or 
social  development  which  an  individual  has  attained 
must  be  recognized  as  a  factor  in  his  education.  What 
has  been  accomplished  by  the  Japanese  in  fifty  years 
shows  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  an  education  in 
shifting  the  attitude  of  a  people  on  civic  and  ethical  and 
cultural  questions,  if  undertaken  with  vigor  and  intelli- 
gence. In  race  development  also  the  love  of  the  orna- 
mental, as  Spencer  has  shown,*  precedes  or  aggressively 
elbows  the  regard  for  the  useful.  The  demand  even 
to-day  among  ourselves  for  a  scanty  classical  or  nar- 
rowly aesthetic  or  cultural  discipline,  in  place  of  power- 
*  "  Education,"  p.  21. 


Anthropology  889 

giving  studies  and  effective  training,  is  part  of  the  same 
tendency.  It  is  primitive  habit  clinging  to  the  skirts  of 
civilization.  The  negro  is  emotional,  credulous,  touch- 
ing certain  interests  morally  irresponsible,  lives  in  the 
present  and  craves  ease  and  physical  comfort,  seeks 
sensuous  pleasures,  must  slowly  acquire  the  practice  of 
thrift,  and  is  very  religious.  In  his  interest  such  qual- 
ities of  character  should  modify,  radically,  notions  of 
education  and  many  of  the  existing  systems  of  school- 
ing. This  lesson  our  government  has  been  slow  to  learn 
in  dealing  with  its  wards,  its  large  foreign  population 
with  alien  interests,  and  its  submerged  black  tenth. 

The  force  of  all  this  is  emphasized  in  the  now 
generally  accepted  principle,  true  both  biologically  and 
psychologically,  that  in  his  development  the  individual 
follows  essentially  the  same  order  as  the  race  pursued. 
The  teachings  of  modern  science  concur  in  this  conclu- 
sion. The  most  complete  statement  of  the  doctrine  is 
found  in  Herbert  Spencer's  chapter  on  "  Intellectual 
Education,"  *  an  extract  from  which  follows :  "  The 
education  of  the  child  must  accord  both  in  mode  and 
arrangement  with  the  education  of  mankind  as  consid- 
ered historically;  or  in  other  words,  the  genesis  of 
knowledge  in  the  individual  must  follow  the  same  course 
as  the  genesis  of  knowledge  in  the  race.  To  M.  Comte, 
we  believe,  society  owes  the  enunciation  of  this  doctrine, 
a  doctrine  which  we  may  accept  without  committing 
ourselves  to  his  theory  of  the  genesis  of  knowledge, 
either  in  its  causes  or  its  order.  In  support  of  this  doc- 
*  Spencer.  "Education,"  pp.  21,  122. 


390  Science  of  Education 

trine  two  reasons  may  be  assigned,  either  of  them  suffi- 
cient to  establish  it.  One  is  deducible  from  the  law 
of  hereditary  transmission  as  considered  in  its  wider 
consequences.  For  if  it  be  true  that  men  exhibit  like- 
ness to  ancestry,  both  in  aspect  and  character;  if  it  be 
true  that  certain  mental  manifestations,  as  insanity,  will 
occur  in  successive  members  of  the  same  family  at  the 
same  age;  if,  passing  from  individual  cases  in  which 
the  traits  of  many  dead  ancestors  mixing  with  those  of 
a  few  living  ones  greatly  obscure  the  law,  we  turn  to 
national  types,  and  remark  how  the  contrasts  between 
them  are  persistent  from  age  to  age ;  if  we  remember 
that  these  respective  types  came  from  a  common  stock, 
and  that  hence  the  present  marked  differences  between 
them  must  have  arisen  from  the  action  of  modifying 
circumstances  upon  successive  generations  who  sever- 
ally transmitted  the  accumulated  effects  to  their  de- 
scendants ;  if  we  find  the  differences  to  be  now  organic, 
so  that  the  French  child  grows  into  a  Frenchman,  even 
when  brought  up  among  strangers,  and  if  the  general 
fact  thus  illustrated  is  true  of  the  whole  nature,  intel- 
lect inclusive,  then  it  follows  that  if  there  be  an  order 
in  which  the  human  race  has  mastered  its  various  kinds 
of  knowledge,  there  will  arise  in  every  child  an  aptitude 
to  acquire  these  kinds  of  knowledge  in  the  same  order. 
So  that  even  were  the  order  intrinsically  indifferent, 
it  would  facilitate  education  to  lead  the  individual  mind 
through  the  steps  traversed  by  the  general  mind.  But 
the  order  is  not  intrinsically  indifferent,  and  hence  the 
fundamental  reason  why  education  should  be  a  repeti- 


Anthropology  391 

tion  of  civilization  in  little.  It  is  alike  provable  that 
the  historical  sequence  was,  in  its  main  outlines,  a  neces- 
sary one,  and  that  the  causes  which  determined  it  apply 
to  the  child  as  to  the  race.  Not  to  specify  these  causes 
in  detail,  it  will  suffice  here  to  point  out  that  as  the  mind 
of  humanity  placed  in  the  midst  of  phenomena  and 
striving  to  comprehend  them  has,  after  endless  compari- 
sons, speculations,  experiments,  and  theories,  reached  its 
present  knowledge  of  each  subject  by  a  specific  route; 
it  may  rationally  be  inferred  that  the  relationship  be- 
tween mind  and  phenomena  is  such  as  to  prevent  this 
knowledge  from  being  reached  by  any  other  route,  and 
that,  as  each  child's  mind  stands  in  this  same  relation- 
ship to  phenomena,  they  can  be  accessible  to  it  only 
through  the  same  route.  Hence  in  deciding  upon  the 
right  method  of  education,  an  inquiry  into  the  method 
of  civilization  will  help  to  guide  us." 

Kant,  Huxley  and  others  have  made  similar  obser- 
vations. Hence,  an  emphasis  in  recent  years  put  upon 
myths  and  legends,  the  Homeric  and  Old  Testament 
stories  for  early  child  periods ;  later  the  touch  with  the 
world  of  fact  and  change  and  thing,  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  his  own  time. 

Among  all  the  class  relations  noted  on  a  preceding 
page,  the  most  marked  and  organic,  because  an  anthro- 
pological fact,  is  that  of  sex  with  its  pedagogical  and 
other  social  implications. 

Primarily  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this  relation  is 
at  the  basis  of  the  family  as  an  institution.  The  family 
is  the  primary  social  group,  and  "  educates  the  child, 


392  Science  of  Education 

not  for  itself  but  for  civil  society."  It  becomes,  there- 
fore, "  the  organic  starting-point  of  all  education." 
From  the  earliest  days  of  the  race,  the  household  spirit 
has  led  to  much  differentiation  of  domestic  duties,  and 
so  has  through  centuries  evolved  a  wide  difference  of 
faculty  between  the  two  sexes.  It  is  now  pretty  evident 
that  in  certain  primitive  population  centres,  as  man 
was  the  soldier  and  hunter,  the  race  is  doubtless  in- 
debted to  woman  for  the  invention  and  early  develop- 
ment of  agriculture  and  other  related  arts.  Through- 
out the  period  of  history  of  those  nations  that  have  come 
to  civilization  this  difference  of  domestic  duties  has 
more  or  less  taken  into  account  the  child-bearing  func- 
tions of  the  woman,  further  diverging  her  services.  This 
difference  of  duties  and  the  incident  privileges  has 
been  accompanied  or  followed  by  a  difference  of  educa- 
tion. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  woman  has  had 
less  education  than  man;  that  the  little  received  was 
less  formal,  chiefly  incidental,  and  usually  of  different 
subject-matter.  Along  with  the  general  movement  also 
have  gone  different  claims  by  the  two  sexes,  and  con- 
sequently unlike  privileges.  Unlike  privileges  have,  in 
times  and  places,  become  unequal  privileges.  These  un- 
equal privileges  and  unlike  responsibilities  have  effected 
a  different  mental  attitude  and  dissimilar  interests  and 
mental  powers.  It  would  be  strange  if  it  were  not  so. 
Generations  of  variant  reactions  must  have  had  their 
unlike  effects,  not  necessarily  unequal,  but  different. 

The  accompanying  characterization  is  suggestive  only 


Anthropology  393 

of  such  differences  as  bear  upon  the  pedagogical  ques- 
tions under  consideration.  Man  is  more  energetic; 
woman  more  persistent,  has  more  endurance,  though 
is  less  ambitious.  Man  is  more  inventive ;  woman  more 
intuitive.  It  is  said  that  of  the  two  sexes,  man  has  the 
keenest  ear,  though  he  is  oftenest  deaf ;  that  among  men 
are  the  brightest  intellects,  though  they  furnish  a  larger 
per  cent,  of  the  stupid;  that  there  are  more  geniuses 
among  men,  but  also  the  most  cranks;  in  short,  that 
woman  is  more  uniform  in  both  interest  and  activity. 
Some  one  has  said  that  man  sees  farther  into  truth  (in 
philosophy  or  science),  woman  sees  more  rapidly.  The 
masculine  method  is  passive  and  deliberate.  The 
woman  is  quick  to  perceive,  lively  to  act ;  apt  to  blunder, 
but  quick  to  correct  and  recover.  Among  the  estab- 
lished conclusions  of  modern  science  is  this  that,  both 
biologically  and  psychologically,  and  hence  socially, 
woman  is  the  conservative  element  of  society ;  man  the 
variant,  the  radical.  "  The  initiative  of  every  move- 
ment, in  all  directions,  good  or  bad,  is  determined  by 
the  male,"  says  Le  Conte,*  "  the  conservation  of  what- 
ever balance  of  good  there  may  be  seems  to  be  mainly 
by  the  female.  The  male  tries  all  things,  the  female 
holds  fast  that  which  is  good.  By  the  one,  society  gains 
a  little  each  generation ;  by  the  other,  the  gain  is  con- 
served and  made  a  new  point  of  departure.  The  one 
is  ever  building  hastily  a  scaffolding  and  platform ;  the 
other  ever  consolidating  into  a  permanent  structure." 
In  evolution  man  is  the  progressive  factor,  woman  the 
*  "  Evolution,"  pp.  262,  263. 


394  Science  of  Education 

factor  of  stability  and  content.  This  last  fact, 
coupled  with  the  extreme  productiveness  of  the  igno- 
rant, is  a  troublesome  foe  to  education.  Among  the  in- 
telligent it  guarantees  progress.  The  woman,  not  less 
than  the  man,  if  civilization  is  to  be  cumulative,  must 
have  converged  in  her  the  highest  ideals  and  noblest 
qualities  of  the  race.  For  the  future,  if  not  for  the  pres- 
ent, society  is  interested  that  from  the  lowest  levels  up, 
those  who  may  become  parents  shall  be  equipped  to 
further  any  real  gains  the  race  may  make;  that  the 
ignorant  may  become  intelligent ;  the  erratic,  sane ;  the 
coarse,  refined ;  the  selfish,  generous ;  the  brutal,  tender. 
The  schools  may  not  safely  disregard  the  fact  that  in 
these  conditions  lie  one  of  the  great  problems  of  edu- 
cation. 

Given  a  perfect  (accepted)  system  of  schools,  women, 
for  the  reason  just  noted,  better  administer  it.  Men 
are  more  disposed  to  revise  and  recast  and  redistribute 
their  courses ;  to  try  experiments  in  school  government ; 
to  mend  supposed  inconsistencies  in  the  laws;  to  com- 
plicate methods,  and  multiply  the  merely  clerical  work. 
The  teaching  of  women,  however,  is,  for  the  same 
reason,  likely  to  become  mechanical  and  their  methods 
stereotyped.  Of  course,  there  are  many  and  notable  ex- 
ceptions to  these  bald  statements  on  both  sides,  but,  in 
general,  they  are  believed  to  hold  true.  The  tendency 
toward  mechanism  in  teachers  would  be  a  far  more  dan- 
gerous one  but  for  the  compensating  fact  that  woman, 
looking  to  results,  emphasizes  character;  man,  schol- 
arship. In  her  own  life  also  she  is  more  likely  to  be 


Anthropology  395 

interested  in  ideals  than  in  ideas  as  such.  The  liberal 
education  of  woman  has  been  greatly  forwarded  by  the 
recent  multiplication  of  coordinate  courses,  and  the 
introduction  of  the  elective  principle. 

Age  also  is  an  anthropological  fact  that  is  a  deter- 
mining condition  in  all  education.  By  age  is  not  here 
meant  the  years  of  the  individual's  life,  but  rather  the 
meaning  of  the  relation  between  the  period  of  physical 
and  mental  growth  and  maturity.  The  brevity  of  a 
generation  limits  the  amount  and  rate  of  progress. 
An  increase,  however  slight,  in  the  length  of  the 
plastic  period  would  have  the  effect  to  increase  both.  In 
most  Western  nations  the  entrance  upon  one's  civic  ma- 
jority is  fixed  at  about  the  twentieth  or  twenty-first 
year;  for  women  somewhat  earlier.  But  it  is  evident 
that  the  actual  term  of  growth  of  both  body  and  mind 
continues  some  years.  Every  year  added  to  this  acquisi- 
tive stage  is  a  gain  to  the  race  not  less  than  to  the  in- 
dividual. Early  precocity,  so  likely  to  be  followed  by 
early  arrest,  is  to  be  deplored.  A  prolonged  childhood 
is  desirable.  But  the  shortness  of  this  period  is  accent- 
uated often  by  the  forced  early  assumption  of  the  duties 
of  manhood.  This  is  in  part  because  of  the  brevity  of 
the  generation,  and  in  part  because  of  the  direct  or  in- 
direct action  of  the  greed  for  money  and  the  prevalence 
of  the  industrial  spirit.  In  either  event,  both  the  child 
and  the  community  suffer.  Age,  once  more,  being  in 
general  commensurate  with  attainment  and  maturity, 
determines  indirectly  school  classifications  and  the  de- 
velopments upon  which  they  are  based. 


Science  of  Education 

The  anthropological  problems  in  pedagogics  are, 
maybe,  less  urgently  pressing  upon  teachers,  but  they 
are  neither  less  important  nor  less  directly  related  to 
formal  education  than  those  that  arise  out  of  the  dis- 
tinctly social  or  psychological  functions. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

THE  following  list  of  books  is  suggestive  only  of  the 
lines  along  which  teachers  may  find  further  reading 
profitable.  It  is  meant  to  be  a  working  list  in  English 
for  the  busy  teacher  which  will  itself  be  the  means  of 
directing  to  other  books. 

On  Education  and  Educational  Theory 

Bain,  Alexander  :  Education  as  a  Science. 

Butler,  Nicholas  M. :   The  Meaning  of  Education. 

DeGarmo,  Charles  :  Interest  and  Education. 

Fouill6e,  Alfred  :  Education  from  a  National  Standpoint. 

Harris,  William  T. :  The  Psychological  Foundations  of  Edu- 
cation. 

Oppenheim,  Nathan  :  The  Development  of  the  Child. 

Palmer,  F.  B. :  The  Science  of  Education. 

Parker,  Frances  W. :  Talks  on  Pedagogics. 

Payne,  William  H. :  Contributions  to  the  Science  of  Educa- 
tion. 

Rosenkranz,  J.  K.  F. :  The  Philosophy  of  Education. 

Spencer,  Herbert :  Education. 

Tompkins,  Arnold  :  The  Philosophy  of  Teaching. 

On  Physiological  Psychology. 

Bernstein,  Julius  :  The  Five  Senses  of  Man. 
Calderwood,  Henry  :  The  Relations  of  Mind  and  Brain. 
Clifford,  William  K.:  Seeing  and  Thinking. 
Halleck,  R.  P. :  The  Education  of  the  Central  Nervous  System. 

397 


398  Science  of  Education 

Ladd,  George  T.:  The  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology. 
Ladd,  George  T. :  Outlines  of  Descriptive  Psychology. 
Ribot,  Th. :  Heredity. 

On  Psychology  and  Mental  Growth 

Bain,  Alexander:  Mental  Science. 

Bascom,  John  :  Science  of  Mind. 

Dewey,  John  :  Psychology. 

Dexter  and  Garlick  :  Psychology  in  the  School-room. 

Everett,  C.  C. :  The  Science  of  Thought. 

James,  William:  Psychology. 

Oppenheim,  Nathan  :  Mental  Growth  and  Control. 

Porter,  Noah:  The  Human  Intellect. 

Spencer,  Herbert :  The  Principles  of  Psychology. 

Sully,  James  :  The  Human  Mind. 

Sully,  James  :  Outlines  of  Psychology. 

Taine,  H.  A. :  On  Intelligence. 

Thompson,  D.  G. :  A  System  of  Psychology. 

On  Ethics. 

Adler,  Felix :  The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children. 

Huxley,  Thomas  H. :  Evolution  and  Ethics. 

Hyde,  William  DeWitt :  Outlines  of  Social  Theology. 

Mackenzie,  John  S. :  A  Manual  of  Ethics. 

Maurice,  F.  D. :  Social  Morality. 

Spencer,  Herbert :  Principles  of  Ethics. 

On  Anthropology  and  Heredity. 

Clodd,  Edward:  The  Childhood  of  the  World. 
Dopp,  Kathrine  E.:  The  Place  of  the  Industries  in  Element- 
ary Education. 

Galton,  Francis  :  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty. 
Guyau,  J.  M.:  Education  and  Heredity. 
Herbartson  :  Man  and  His  Work. 
Huxley,  Thomas  H. :  Lay  Sermons  and  Addresses. 
Huxley,  Thomas  H.:  Science  and  Education. 


Bibliography  399 

Keary,  C.  F. :  The  Dawn  of  History. 

Kelly,  Edmond  :  Evolution  and  Effort. 

Lubbock,  Sir  John  :  Prehistoric  Times. 

Lubbock,  Sir  John:  The  Origin  of  Civilization. 

Shaler,  N.  S. :  Nature  and  Man. 

Tyler,  E.  B.:  Anthropology. 

Whewell,  William  :  A  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences. 

On  Sociology  and  Evolution. 

Argyll,  The  Duke  of  :  The  Unity  of  Nature. 

Draper,  John  W. :  The  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe. 

Dyer,  Henry  :  The  Evolution  of  Industry. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.  :  Educational  Reform. 

Fairbanks  :  Introduction  to  Sociology. 

Fiske,  John  :  The  Destiny  of  Man. 

Giddings,  F.  W. :  The  Principles  of  Sociology. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.:  Social  Elements. 

Le  Conte,  Joseph:  Evolution. 

Romanes,  G.  J.:  Mental  Evolution  in  Man. 

Shaler,  N.  S.:  The  Individual. 

Spencer,  Herbert :  The  Principles  of  Sociology. 

Tarde,  G. :  Social  Laws. 

Vincent,  George  E.:  The  Social  Mind  and  Education. 

Ward,  Lester  F. :  Dynamic  Sociology. 

Ward,  Lester  F. :  Psychic  Factors  in  Civilization. 


INDEX 


Academic  bias  In  education,  233 

Acquired  perceptions,  261 

Acquired  traits,  inheritance  of, 
270 

Activity,  instinct  of,  125 

Adolescent  period,  243,  244,  280- 
282 

Adult  education,  61,   62 

Agasslz,   Louis,    7 

Age  as  a  factor  in  education,  395 

Agricultural  life,  354 

Alfred,   King,  27 

Aliens  in  the  United  States,  and 
education,  387-389 

Analytic  process,  293 

"  Ancestors,"  by  J.  T.  Trowbrldge, 
quoted,  373 

Angelo,  Michael,  quoted,  157 

Animal  and  man,  78-81,  131 

Animal  Instinct,  79 

Animals,  training  of,  53  ;  domes- 
tication of,  352 

Anthropology,  371  ;  denned,  377 

Appreciation,  295 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  101 

Aristotle,  6,  128  ;  ideal  of  educa- 
tion, 226  ;  on  virtue,  309 

Arnold,  Matthew,  quoted,  222 

Art  In  education,  230 

Art  of  teaching,  4 

Artists,  16 

Arts  and  sciences,  3 

Aspects  of  education,  three,  202 

Association,  325-327 

Athletics,  220,  225 

Attention,  297 ;  by  Rosenkranz, 
31  ;  and  recollection,  302  ;  and 
volition,  303,  304 ;  stages  of, 
305 


Auditory  images,  259 
Azarias,  Brother,  quoted,  226 

Bacon,  Francis,  6 
Bacon,  Roger,  quoted,  381 
Bain,  Alexander,  quoted,  156,  215, 
217  ;  "  The  Senses  and  the  In- 
tellect," 196  ;  on  fear,  287  ;  on 
Interest,    291 ;    on    discrimina- 
tion,   298 ;    on    mental    change, 
299 ;     on     attention,     304 ;     on 
emotions,  309 
Baker,  J.  H.,  quoted,  367 
Baldwin,  Mark,  quoted,  131,  196 
Barnard,  Henry,  21 
Bascom,   John,   quoted,    124,   191 ; 
definition    of    psychology,    241  ; 
on   temperament,   247,   251 ;  on 
emotions,  308,  310 
Bibliography,  397-399 
Binet,  A.,   196 
Body,  Influence  on  mind.  242-244 ; 

influenced  by  mind,  244 
Boys  and  girls,  280 
Browne,   Sir  Thomas,   108 
Browning,  Robert,  99,  104 
Byron,  quoted,  150 

Capacities,  mental,  266 

"  Captains  of  Industry,"  49 

Carlyle,  quoted,  8 

Carpentry,  art  of,  5 

Categorical  imperative,  337 

Catholic  Ideal  of  education,  26 

Cattell,  Professor,  196 

Change,    law   of,    Professor   Bain, 

299 
Character     In     education,      234 ; 

training  of,  65 


401 


402 


Index 


Characteristics  of  education,  44 

Charlemagne,  27 

Child,  the,  interests,  03,  196-198  ; 

mind,  273,  303 ;  character,  279, 

303;  in  society,  345-348 
Chinese     education,     memory     in, 

224 

Choleric  temperament,  249 
Church,  the,  and  education,  164 
Civic  training,  220,  331,  332 
Civil    war,    stimulus    to    physical 

training,  230 

Civilization  and  education,  28,  68 
Classification  and  definition,   178 
Clifford,  W.  K.,  quoted,  186 
Coin  illustration,  83 
Coleridge,  S.  T.,  quoted,  310 
College  life,  334 
Colors,  scale  of,  259 
Comenius,  ideal  of  education,  30 
Commercial  interests,  359 
Common  sense  and  science,  174 
Comparative    view    of    education, 

202 

Compayre,  G.,  quoted,  223 
"  Compensation,"  157 
Compulsory  schooling,  234 
Comte    on    culture    epoch    theory, 

389 

Content  of  terms,  25 
Condition  in  education,  77,  164 
Conscious  processes,  275 
Consciousness,  273 
Constructive  processes,  295 
Contributing  sciences,  203,  237 
Controlled  processes,  291 
Controversial  definitions,  224 
Copernicus,  200 
Culture    Epoch    Theory,    the,    29, 

194,  389 

Daimon,  the,  of  Socrates,  260 
Darwin  on  heredity,  270 
Data  of  educational  science,  205 
Definition  in  science,  178 
Definitions    of    education,    34-39, 

78,     169 ;     controversial,     224 ; 

Huxley's,   229 
Democrltus  mentioned,  257 


Descriptive  view  of  education, 
202 

Designs  by  pupils,  297 

Development  as  periodicity,  278 

Dewey  School,  the,  194 ;  defini- 
tion of  education,  42  ;  of  psy- 
chology, 241 ;  on  consciousness, 
271 

Discipline,  mental,  50 

Discrimination,  297  ;  and  science, 
300 

Disposition  in  mind,  246 

Dock,  Christopher,  6 

Domestication  of  animals,  352 

Drummond,  Henry,  quoted,  164, 
221 

Duke  of  Argyll,  101 

Duns  Scotus,  6 

Educable  animal,  man,  268 
Education  and  allied  arts,  25 ; 
and  civilization,  28,  68  ;  a  ra- 
tional process,  92 ;  as  an  art, 
169  ;  definitions  of,  27,  28,  34- 
39,  78,  85,  169  ;  as  a  process, 
46,  51-59 ;  as  a  science,  169, 
171 ;  by  Bain,  287,  291 ;  de- 
scribed, 44-73  ;  products  of,  47  ; 
subject  of,  74  ;  of  the  individ- 
ual, 66 ;  relations  of,  73 ;  vs. 
schooling,  27,  169,  222,  223; 
vs.  training,  45,  53,  57-59,  80- 
84 

"  Education   of   the   Central    Ner- 
vous System,"  257 
"  Educational  Reform,"  234 
Educational  theory,  218 
Educative  lessons,  91 
Egyptians,  early,  379 
Eliot,    President   Charles   W.,   33, 

234 

"  Elizabethan  age  of  youth,"  282 
Emerson,    B.    W.,    96,    106,    118, 

143,  157,  232 

Emotions,   growth   of,   307-316 
Engineering  as  a  profession,  17 
Environment,  human,  100 
Ethical    culture,    227,    228 ;    rela- 
tions, 329  ;  Mackenzie,  330 


Index 


403 


Kthlcal     principle,     meaning    of, 

330 

Kthlcal  theory  of  education,  232 
••  Kssay  on  Man,"  I'ope,  7 
Kverett,  C.  C.,  quoted,  170 
Kxperlment  In  science,   188 

Faith  instinct,  the,  159 

Farming,  art  of,  4,  10 

Fatigue  and  rest,  278 

Fear,  wasteful,  287 

Feeling  and  knowing,  287 

Feeling,  knowing,  and  willing, 
271 

Feelings,  pleasurable,  288  ;  growth 
of,  307-310 

Ferguson,  Charles,  103 

Fichte,  7 

Forces  of  Nature,  381-383 

Fouill£e,  quoted,  380 

Francke's  Ideal  of  education,  226 

Franco-Prussian  war,  reference, 
230 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  200 

Froebel,  Frledrlch,  83,  222;  ethi- 
cal theory,  232 

Fundamentals  In  education,  75- 
175 

Fuse,  experiences  tend  to,  298 

Galen,  classifies  temperaments, 
249 

Galton,  Francis,  97,  137,  196; 
mental  Images,  260-262 ;  nat- 
ure and  nurture,  269 

Genesis,  quotation  from,  381 

Germ  Inheritance.  208 

Girls  and  boys,  280 

Gladstone's  epigram,  300 

"  Godless  "  schools,  231 

Goethe,  8 

Golden  Rule,  330,  337 

Gordy,  J.  P.,  on  attention,  301 

"  Gradatlm,"  reference  to,  104 

Greeks  mentioned,  215 

Gregarious  Instinct,  the,   137 

Group  relations,   142 

Growth  In  education.  104-160, 
208-213;  orders  of,  213,  215; 


of  emotions,  307,  314 ;  of  In- 
telligence, 317 

Guyau,  J.  M.,  on  attention,  301 ; 
on  national  education,  387 

Gymnastics   rs.   athletics,   230 

Habit,  190 

Hall,  G.  Stanley,  196,  243 
Halleck,    R.    P.,   quoted,    257;   on 
hearing,    260 ;    on    adolescence, 
282 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  on  mental 
capacity,  200 ;  on  feelings,  311 
Harris,   William  T.,  definition  of 
education,  42  ;  quoted,  120,  128, 
210 ;  the  mind's  horizon,  205 ; 
on  attention,  305 
Healing,  art  of,   5 
Hearing,  sense  of,  258-200 
Hebrew  ideal  of  education,  220 
Hegel,    quoted,    7 ;    Idealistic   the- 
ory, 232 

Henderson,  C.  R.,  144 
Herbart,  7,  228  ;  on  temperament, 

247 

Heredity,  207-270 ;  and  educa- 
tion, 270 

Herodotus,  quoted,  379 
Hero  worship  in  boyhood,  300 
Hinsdale,   B.   A.,   112 
Historical  relations,  140 ;  method 

of  study,   193 

History,   140;   for  children,  320 
Holland,  J.  G.,  quoted,  164 
Holmes,   O.  W.,  quoted,  52 
"  Honesty     Is    the    best    policy " 

stage,  369 

Human  environment,   100 
Humanism  and  training,  84 
Hunting  and   fishing,   350 
Huxley,    Thomas    II.,    quoted,    94, 
174,    178,    186,    191,    229.    245; 
definition  of  education,  229  ;  on 
anthropology,    371  ;    on    moral 
growth,  384 
Hyde,    W.    De    Witt,    quoted,    95, 

102 

Hygiene,  school.  220 
Hypothesis  in  science,  191 


404 


Index 


Ideal   processes,   289 

Idealistic     theory     of     education, 

232,   235 
Ideals,  161 

Images,  auditory,  259 ;  visual,  262 
Imitation,  127,  141,  196 
"  Impenetrability,"  Kant,  314 
Inattention  vs.  non -attention,  304 
"  Inclusive  type  "  In  science,  179 
Indifferent,  Interest  in  the,  291 
"  Indirection,"  quoted,  122 
Individual  and  person,  149 
Individuality   in  training,  269 
Induction  in  science,  190 
Industrial  education,   224 
Industry,   organized,   332 ;   educa- 
tion   through,    349 ;    stages    of, 
349 
Initiative,       personal,       128-130; 

child,    297 

Instinct  of  growth,  211 
Instincts,     animal,     79 ;     human, 

124,  125 

Institutions,    145,    147 ;   of   learn- 
ing, 334 
Instrument,  the,  of  education,  76, 

94 
Integration     of     experience,     63 ; 

tendency  to,  298 
Intellectual  education,   221-225 
Intelligence,  growth  of,  317 
Interpretation,  processes  of,  295 
Investigation,  scientific,  132,  187 
Isolation,  power  of,  300 

James,  Professor  William,  quoted, 
94,  98,  124,  129,  132,  137,  138, 
196,  217  ;  definition  of  psychol- 
ogy, 241  ;  on  perception,  255- 
264  ;  man  as  educable  animal, 
268  ;  on  heredity,  270 ;  on  con- 
sciousness, 271  :  field  of  psy- 
chology, 273  ;  Images,  289  ;  law 
of  Integration,  298,  327;  on 
attention,  301-303  ;  on  feelings, 
310 

Japanese,  rapid  rise  of,  388 
Jastrow,  Joseph,  definition  of  edu- 
cation, 241 


Jevons,  quoted,  223  ;  on  scientific 

theory,   232 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  196 
Johonnot,  James,  quoted,  103 
Journal  of  Psychology,  196 
Journalism,  18 

Kant,    Immanuel,    quoted,    4,    7 ; 

classification  of  feelings,  311 
Kelly,  Edmond,  quoted,  112,  114 
Kindergarten  movement,  the,  197 
King,  H.  C.,  quoted,  139 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  104 
Knowing    and    feeling,    287 ;    and 

willing,  271 
Knowledge  as  moral  power,  221 

Ladd,  G.  T.,  196 ;  on  tempera- 
ment, 246,  248  ;  on  vision,  261  ; 
on  mind,  267 ;  on  conscious- 
ness, 273 ;  on  attention,  301- 
303 ;  classification  of  feelings, 
311,  312 

Lancaster,   Professor,  quoted,  280 
Lange,  on  child  development,  278 
Laurie,  on  child  development,  278 
Lavoisier,  200 
Law  as  an  art,  13,  16,  20 
Laws,  the,  of  Plato,  6 
Laws  of   Nature,   182 
Lay  writers  on   education,  8 
Learned  professions,  15 
Learning,    three    ways    of,    130 ; 

and  education,  208,  233 
Legislation,   Influence  of,  331 
Leibnitz,  7 
Lewes,    George    H.,    quoted,    173, 

216 

Lleber,  Francis,  148 
"  Limited  class  "  In  science,   179 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    49,   58 
LIndgren,  Miss  H.,  quoted,  157 
Lindner,    quoted,    256 ;    on    sight, 

261 

Literature  and  moral  culture,  367 
Locke,  John,  quoted,  7,  179,  254 
Logical  order  of  knowledges,  170; 
view     of     education,     203 ;     In 
teaching,  285 


Index 


405 


"  Luclle,"  quotation,   377 
Luther,    Martin,    3,    7 ;    Ideal    of 
education,  226 

Mackenzie,  J.   S..  quoted,  239  ;  on 

ethical   culture,  330,  338 
MacVlcar,    on   child   development, 

278 

Male  teachers,   24 
Man  and  woman,  302 
Mann,   Horace,  21 
Manners  and   customs,  330 
Manual  training,  197,  219 
"  Manual  of  Ethics,"   quoted,  239 
Manufacturing  life,   356-359 
Materialistic  theory  of  education, 

232 

Means  In  teaching,  209-212 
Mechanizing  conduct,  368 
Medicine  as  an  art,  10,  16,  20 
Melancholic  temperament,  250 
Memory,  emphasis  of,  223 
"  Mens  sana,"   242 
Mental  capacities,   206 
Mental  processes,   283 
Meredith,  Owen,  quoted,  377 
Mill,  J.   8.,  quoted,  210 
Milton,  John,  3,  8 
Mind  Influences  body,  244 
Moodlness,   277 
Moral    culture,    stages    In,    360- 

366  ;  In  the  school,  368 
Moral    ends    In    education,    225 ; 

and  evolution,   384 
Moral  quality  In  acts,  226,  227 
Motive   In  education,  77,   124-163 
Motor  activities,   197,  265 
Music,  art  of,  5 
Myths  In   child  training,  391 

Narcotics  and  stimulants,  220 
National    Educational   Association 

reports,   194 
Natural  barriers,  879 
Natural  history  sciences,  th<>    178 
Nature  and  nurture,  269 
Negro     problem     In     the     United 

States.  387 
Nervous  energy,  242 


Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  200 
Non-school  agencies  of  education, 

60 

Normal  schools,  9,  22 
Normative  sciences,  208,  239 

Observation  In  science,  187 
Ogden,  John,  quoted,  223 
Oppenhelm,   N.,   quoted,   165,   308 
Orders    of   growth,    213,    215 ;    In 

educational  theory,  218 
"  Outlines  of  Psychology,"  274 

Page,   David  P.,  quoted,   224 

Palmer,   F.  B.,  quoted,  285 

Parker,  F.  \V.,  quoted,  111 

Pastoral  life,  852 

Patriotism,   152 

"  Pedagogical  Seminary,"  196 

Pedagogical     writings,    6,    8,    20, 

21  ;  departments,  11 
Pedagogics,  29  ;  and  pedagogy,  25, 

80  ;  and   philosophy,  6 
Pedagogy,   25,    30 ;   as  a   sclenc 

185 

Perez,  196 

Periodicities  of  mind,  276 
Personal  relations,  140 
Pestalozzl,  3 

Philosophy  and  pedagogics,  6 
Phlegmatic  temperament,  251 
Physical  Influences  on   man,  378 
Physical    training,    45,    219,    228. 

229,   245 
Physiological    relations    of    mind, 

239-265 

Plato,  3,  6;  quoted,  215,  228 
Porter,    Dr.    Noah,    quoted,    257 ; 
on  special  senses,  258  ;  on  vis- 
ion,   261  ;    on    unity    of    mind, 
272 ;    on    discrimination,    298 ; 
on  anthropology,  371 
•radical  studies,  218 
'ragmatlcs,   215,  220 
'reaching  as  an  art,   13,  20 
•redlctlon  In  science,  183 
•rescntatlve  processes,  289 
'reyer.  W..  quoted,  125,  128,  196 
Primitive  races,  study  of,  214 


406 


Index 


Principles  of  teaching,  5,  8 
Processes,    mental,    283 ;    in    edu- 
cation, 341 

Products  of  education,  47 
Profession  and  trade,  12,  14,  16 
Professional  schools,  11 
Proper  names,  words  as,  293 
Property,     notion    of,    151,    353, 

354 

Protestant  ideal  of  education,  226 
Psychological  laboratories,  195 
Psychology  defined,  240,  241  ;  and 
educational  science,  266 

Questionaires,  197 

Race  education,  69-71,  126 

Race   as    a    factor    in    education, 

214,  223,  252;  and  nationality, 

385 

Rarey,  horse  trainer,  79 
Rational    world,    94 ;    theory    of 

education,  232-234 
Realf,  Richard,  quoted,  122,  212 
Reformation,  3 
Religion  and  morals,  227 
Renaissance,  the,  233 
Representative  processes,  289 
Republic,  the,  of  Plato,  6 
Rest  and   fatigue,  278 
Rhythm,    sense    of,    153-159 ;    In 

nature,   154 

Rhythmic  activities,   277 
Ribot,  Th.,   "  On  Memory,"  196 
Right,  child  sense  of,  360-366 
Robertson,  G.  Croom,  196 
Rosenkranz,     7,     120,     215,     216, 

220  ;  on  attention,  301,  305 
Rousseau,  J.  J.,  3,  229 
Royce,  Josiah,  130,  196 
Ruskin,  John,  quoted,  155 

Saint  Paul,  quoted,  310 
Sanguine  temperament,  250 
Savings  banks  in   schools,  218 
Schiller,  quoted,  308 
Scholarship   in   education,    47-50, 
318 


School,  function  of,  56 ;  cliques, 
143  ;  courses,  235 

"  Schul  Ordnung,"  the,  6 

Science,  nature  of,  173,  174-184  ; 
and  discrimination,  300 ;  of 
education,  3,  4,  11,  30,  207, 
232  ;  of  teaching,  30,  170 ;  and 
education,  180 

"  Science  of  Thought,"  the,  176 

Scientific  knowledge,  174-176 ; 
method,  186-195,  198 ;  theory 
of  education,  232 

Scripture,  E.  W.,  196 

Self-effort  in  education,  67 

Self-estrangement,   120,   123 

Self-teaching,  126 

Sense-culture,   72,   263,   264 

Sensuous  processes,  289 

Sex-differences,  280 ;  and  educa- 
tion, 391-394 

Sheib,  E.,  quoted,  224 

"  Ship  that  found  herself,  The," 
104 

Shortening  courses,  168 

Shoup,  F.  A.,  "  Mechanism  and 
Personality,"  115,  116 

Sight,  sense  of,  261 

"  Slain  Self,  My,"  extract,  212 

Smith,  Sidney,  quoted,  309 

Social  group,   142,  338,  339 

Social  relations,  140,  143-146, 
160;  science  of,  329,  338 

Socrates,  6 ;  daimon  of,  260 

Soil,  love  of,  150 

Solidarity  of  mind,  63-66,  325- 
328 

Solomon  referred  to,  235 

Special  senses,  254-265  ;  pedagogy 
of,  263 

Spencer,  Herbert,  3,  96,  155,  215 
utilitarian    in    education,    232 
definition    of    psychology,    241 
on     mind,     267 ;     on     heredity, 
270 ;     quoted,     257 ;     on     sense 
training,  264;  on  feelings.  311, 
319 ;    on   culture    epoch   theory, 
389 

Spiritual  theory  of  education,  232 

Spontaneous  processes,  291 


Index 


407 


Stages  of  development,  278 

States  of  mind,  273 

Stein,  quoted,  42 

Stream  of  thought,   272 

Struggle  for  the  existence  of  oth- 
ers, 221 

Subconscious  activities,  274 

Subject  of  education,  74 

Sully,  James,  quoted,  139,  196; 
nature  of  psychology,  241,  273  ; 
on  feelings,  311  ;  physiological 
psychology,  254  ;  on  heredity, 
270 ;  on  consciousness,  274 ; 
on  discrimination  of  difference, 
297  ;  on  attention,  301 

Synthetic  processes,  293 

Taine,  H.,  "  On  Intelligence,"  196 

Tarde,  G.,   130,   141 

Teachers,  training  of,  32 

Teaching,  25,  31,  67;  as  an  art, 
32,  170 ;  as  a  profession,  19 ; 
the  science  of,  170 

Technical  training,  84 

Temperament,  246-253  ;  classifica- 
tion, 249 

Thing  and  thought,  121 

Thompson,  D.  G.,  quoted,  248 ; 
discrimination,  298 ;  on  feel- 
ings, 314 

Thorndyke,  Edward,   129,  130 

"  Three  It's,"  the,  90 

Time,  a  factor  In  education,  164- 
170 


Touch,  the  basic  sense,   257 ;  re- 
lation to  sight,  261 
Trade  and  profession,  12,  14,  18 
Trade  relations,  333,  334 
Training,    86-92 ;    va.    education, 

167,  168 
i    Transmission    of   acquired   traits, 

269,  270 

Trowbrldge,  J.  T.,  quoted,  373 
Tylor,     E.    1!.,    on    anthropology, 
372 

Unconscious  processes,  275 
Understanding  vs.  execution,   296 
Universal  education,  27 
Universe,  reaction  upon  mind,  116 
Utilitarian    theory    of    education, 
232 

"  Volition  Is  attention,"  303 
Voluntary  attention,  304 

Ward,     Lester     F.,     quoted,     201, 

223  ;  scientific  theory,  232 
Weather  predictions,  10 
Weismann,   A.,   on    heredity,   269, 

270 

Whewell,  Dr.  William,   178 
Willing,     feeling,     and     knowing, 

271 

Woman  and  man,  391-394 
Women  as  teachers,  394 
Wundt,    Professor    W.,    196 ;    on 

temperament,  249 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


DEC  191959 

DEC  1 2  RECC 

j     1965 
JUL121965 


SUBJECT  TO  FINE  IF  NOT  RETURNED  TO 

EDUCATION  LIBRARY 


NOV  1 4  1966 
QLSEP23  1986 
RECEIVED 


EDfPSYCH  LIB 


Form  L9-32m-8,'57(.C8680s4)444 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  970  020     4 


Education 
Library 

LB 

1025 
B6U 


